Crests of Destiny
by Cloud Ishida
Summary: Why were only Devimon, Myotismon, Piedmon etc. the most powerful ones in the Digiworld? The Digidestined's return home has been put off by the rise of a new threat. This time, it's not just pure good against pure evil... (Rated R for the blood and stuf
1. The Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Toei, Bandai, FoxKids or whatever/whoever, owns it. Does anyone really know who created or is the big boss behind Digimon? I'd sure like to know...  
  
Author's Note: This one was stuck in my head for a long time. Have you noticed that in total, the DigiDestined battled with 8 digimon bosses (Devimon, Etamon, Myotismon, the Dark Masters and Apoclymon)? And there are 8 Destined? *the gears in my head are turning...* Eureka! Another fic!!  
  
Note: =Thoughts  
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"Crests of Destiny"  
By Cloud Ishida  
  
  
~Prologue~  
  
The sky was at a calm as everyone cheered a resounding victory call. The Chosen Children have won.   
  
In the back of the crowd, a girl remained silent. The scar on her right cheek was spotted by the pale light of the solar eclipse. No emotion was in her eyes as she clenched her pendent. A black device started to glow a dark blue, as she looked to the sky to the gateway of the black sun. A whisper of regret and sorrow rippled out of her lips, "Apoclymon..."  
  
Around the world, seven other children clasped their pendents and their devices glowed. A new war was about to begin.   
  
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~Chapter 1-The Past~  
  
"The portal will only open for another ten minutes. I suggest you all get on board." Gennai gestured towards the trolly car. Six children slowly walked towards the trolly doors in a mixture of sadness and excitment.  
  
The smallest noticed two were missing from the line, "Matt?" The others turned to spot the blonde and the navy-blue haired boy at his side, feet not moving to their ride home. "C'mon Matt, Mom and Dad will be waiting..."  
  
"I'm not going." Yamato's voice was quick and to the point. Even Gabumon was shocked by the statement, but a part of him, happy.   
  
"Matt.." Takeru couldn't say anything. Is he leaving me again?...  
  
"And I'm not abandoning you T.K." It was like he read the boy's mind, "You're a big kid now, and you have Mom and Dad to help you out. This has nothing to do with you, or any of you."  
  
"And I don't want to go either." Jyou pronounced. He stared at his shoes, not wanting to see the expressions on the others' faces. Gomamon wasn't surprised. The two had discussed it before and the furry seal supported his wish.  
  
Taichi turned to the two, "What are you talking about? I want to stay too but I know I can't. Are you absolutely sure?... Remember, Gennai said it'll be impossible to return after this." He pointed to the solar eclipse, only a sliver of black remaining.  
  
"Nothing is impossible Tai. If we want to come back, we will." Yamato announced. His blue eyes shifted from Taichi to Takeru. He could see his little brother was sad, on the verge of tears. He didn't want to hurt him, but he couldn't live for him all his life. It would be unfair for his young brother.   
  
"I have my reasons. And those reasons are very important to me." Jyou finally looked up to stare straight in the eyes of their former leader, "Don't ask why, I just want to stay."  
  
Taichi was about to say something more when a flash of blue light blinded the children. From the dark side of the eclipse sprang eight streaks of light. As quickly as they appeared, they vanished without a trace. "What the heck was that?!" Taichi bellowed. The sky cleared, the eclipse still prominant as ever.  
  
Gennai had worry written all over his face. He understood the meaning of the event that had just occured. Oh no... "This is bad news indeed. He murmered too loudly, for all the children and digimon heard his disturbed voice. All looked to him in a questioned look. "You better go children, the fireworks festivities are over."  
  
"Gennai," Koushiro was the first to speak what was on everyone's minds, "what were those lights that we saw?"   
  
Gennai was relunctant to answer. History was repeating itself once again. He didn't want the children to get involved, to know that their efforts were in vain, "There is no time children. The gate will close in minutes. All of you get going." His voice was rushing them and the surprising lack of jokes and criticisim seemed very unlike Gennai. Koushiro caught this uneasyness in him. Looking around the group of sixteen, sadness was written all over them. They truely are depressed about leaving..., thought Gennai, "I have very litle time to explain things but... Those streaks of light meant that you do not have to leave the Digiworld as quickly as I thought." he children's eyes widened by the prospect.  
  
"You mean that we can stay as long as we want?!" Takeru was extatic by the news, hugging Patamon so hard that the pudgy digimon could have burst.  
  
"But I don't reccommend it. The Digiworld is in serious danger and you eight may become their prime targets." Gennai turned to the direction the eight lights headed for, referring to them as the enemy.  
  
"Gennai," Taici stepped forward, "we are destined to save stuff. Being in danger is our job. And I know that I speak for everyone when I say that we want to stay, no matter what." The others nodded in agreement. Yamato shook his head. He wanted to be in the Digiworld alright, alone in the Digiworld.  
  
"Well, if that is what you wish..." Gennai let them back to his house as the sun returned to its original blazing light.  
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"I want you all to read this." Gennat opened an ancient book with text that no one could understand.  
  
"Uhh...exactly what are we supposed to read?" Mimi puzzled.  
  
"All right, all right. It seems you can talk digimon but not read it. Let me read it for you." Gennai took a deep breath:  
  
The Dark Discs shall corrupt the land,   
As Friendship grows in the darkest hour.  
The Chosen shall unite  
And the smallest with his Guardian Angel will call forth Light  
As the dying Devil warns of danger.  
  
"That sounds awfully familiar..." Takeru whispered to his digimon pal.   
  
Music of the night echoes that   
Courage is lost and everyone falls.  
The return of the heroic sun unites the circle of Friendship.  
As fresh darkness reins supreme  
Even the Chosen's sacred homes are overpowered.  
  
The sky will be darkened by the wings of many bats.   
The fallen shall rise and invoke the name of the Undead King.  
Then Angels will appear to shoot their arrows of Hope and Light  
At the loved ones of those they were sent to protect.  
Then a miracle will occur.  
  
"Hey, isn't that from when we defeated Myotismon?" Mimi shuddered by the thought of the evil dead digimon. Everyone else shushed her and she fell silent, minus some grumbling.  
  
The Sea Dragon trembles in fear of Courage and Light will speak the truth to all,  
Friendship rises back against the Manipulator.  
The Light blinds the Metal Dragon but Darkness will ensue.  
In the end, Hope rises to purify the corrupt   
And Unity will save all as everything comes full circle, to continue once again.  
  
"And what does this have to do with us? Or with those light things we saw? And..." Jyou continued to bombard Gennai with questions.  
  
"Hey, hey. One question at a time. I only have two ears you know." Gennai silenced Joe and proceeded to answer each question, "First, this is the book where I found the Myotismon proghecy. When I finished uncrypting them, it seems that each stanza prophisized each enemy you dealt with. For example, 'the smallest with his Guardian Angel' would be..."  
  
"Me and Angemon!" Takeru yelled triumphantly.  
  
"Correct. And the 'Devil' being Devimon. It even prophesized the battle with Apoclymon. But the final line is what worries me." Gennai repeated it and Koushiro came up with the answer, "In other words, history repeats itself. Well, Apoclymon did have powers of all the digimon we have faced but...does it also mean we have to fight again?"  
  
"Exactly Izzy." Gennai smiled. The child was very smart for his age.  
  
"Well, we beat them before, so we can beat them again right?" Sora smiled the words out and Piyomon agreed with her.   
  
Hikari scratched her partner, "That means I'll be seeing more of you Tailmon." The pampered kitty purred softly in the girl's lap.  
  
"I'm agraid it's not that simple. I'm sure bu now you know what happened in the past. But things are more complicated then they seem." The children settled down to hear what he had to say, "I have little time left in this world. When Piedmon attacked that day, he implanted in me a virus, eating away at my data to this very day. That's why I look so old."  
  
The children gasped. The digimon just slumped their head. Gennai is dying...? And soon from the looks of it. "Anyways, I discovered after I arrived at File Island that the data collected from you children and technology to build the devices were stolen by Piedmon. He knew of our plan from the very beginning. He was actually part of the project. But the rivalry between us drove him to become a Virus."  
  
Yamato shot his head up, That sounds like Tai and me...  
  
Piedmon a nice digimon?! No way!" Taichi couldn't imagine the psychotic clown could be capable of any good deed.  
  
"A thousand years later, eight streaks of light sprang from an eclipse. Nothing became of it until a year later, eight powerful viruses were born. Some were even in their Mega levels. You could probably guess who they were."  
  
Jyou gulped at the thought, "The Dark Masters?..."  
  
Koushiro added the rest, "And Devimon, Etamon, Myotismon and Apoclymon, I presume, are the rest."  
  
"Correct. Soon afterwards, the same eight lights returned to the solar eclipse. More years passed as the Digiworld was falling apart by these Viruses. Pieceing all the clues together, I came to a frightening conclusion. It seemed that Piedmon had beaten me in the race for the Destined."  
  
"What do you mean? Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Koushiro understood before the others could.  
  
"Piedmon had knowledge and power to do it. Those eight lights were children. Like you. They're probably the same ages as you since time flows much faster in the Digiworld than your world. These eight children had their own digivices, tags, crest and digimon. And it seems that they have returned to begin all over again, like your prophecy. As long as the Destined exist, history will repeat. The Darkdestined, as Piedmon called them, have their own prophecy very similar to yours."  
  
"So you're trying to say that all that we fought for was for nothing?" Yamato didn't face the others. He said very little throughout the whole conversation. The others nearly forgot he was even there because of his silence.  
  
"...To fully stop the evil in the Digiworld, The Dark Chosen themselves must be stopped." Gennai couldn't help but feel he had failed his Chosen. "I met up with them once. And it wasn't a pretty introduction. All had a tag and crest. Their prominant traits, as expected, were evil. It seems they are exactly the opposite of your crests. Piedmon introduced each one merrily to show them of to me. If memory serves me well, they were: Fear, Hate, Loneliness, Ignorance, Deciet, Doubt, Despair and Darkness."  
  
Each child looked at their crests. Gennai continued the history lesson. Yamato paid no attention to the old man. He stared at his crest, the word "Loneliness" staring right back at him.   
  
"Wait," Koushiro stepped forwar from the others, "are they the original Chosen kids that you told us about?"  
  
Gennai shook his head, "No, the Darkdestined arrived after the original five. They were the ones that defeated the original's digimons. Then, you all came to defeat the digimon of the Darkdestined. Now, they are back to destroy yours. Piedmon created his Destined as a counter-attack for you eight and..." Gennai was cut off by an onslaught of uncontrollable coughs. Koushiro and Taichi eached out to support him until he stopped.  
  
He really is dying... Koushiro couldnt believe his friend and mentor was about to expire. But he couldn't think that now. "I'm fine. I know my time will come soon. Don't worry about me. Right now, we have to stop the Darkdestined."  
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Boring I know. There's gonna be action in the 2nd chapter. I promise! ^_^ How did you like it? Is the plot intresting enough for you? This is my second fic so I'm still new at this. Reviews will be appreciated. Until next chapter, See ya!  



	2. Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, blah blah blah. The Darkdestined's names are mine (well, the name "Asato" is from a fave manga of mine) as well as the plot. One of the Darkdestined is based on one of the characters of a comic that I'm making (or would like to once I get supplies and TIME!!!). I may pop in some notes around this chapter.  
  
Note: =thoughts  
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"Crests of Destiny"  
By Cloud Ishida   
  
  
~Chapter 2-Reunion~  
  
  
An erray of colourful eggs were scattered everywhere and cribs were full of Fresh digimon. Elecmon retained his duty to look over the young at the newly established Primary Village. The sky blew gently mild winds that soothed the tiny babies. Clouds took shape of pillows for the sleepy and giant pieces of digifruit for the hungary. But all that was about to be interrupted.  
  
With a loud, ear-grinding crash, eight streaks of light collided to form one giant fireball that rivaled the sun and landed right in the middle of the village. The glow slowly dimmed, but Elecmon grew with anger. The light landed right in the middle of the field where the baby digimon played. Scattered everywhere were tiny bodies of injured digimon. Some eggs were cracked or crushed. Few pints of blood, from the unfortunate babies that were right under where the fireball landed, seeped into the soil. Elecmon's instinct to protect kicked in but his logical brain told him to stay put until he knew what he what he was dealing with.   
  
The light finally faded. Eight figures stood in its place.  
  
"...hmp. We're back..." The short-haired boy stood with his arms crossed, and held the "I'm-too-cool" pose (Cloud:much like my Yama-chan^_^). His black pants reflected in sync with the sun's rays and his oxford collared shirt loosely buttoned. Long, light brown bangs flowed over his left green eye. Underneath, traces of marroon-red slightly showed through.  
  
"I know what you mean Asato. It's been only a month and he called us already?" A blonde girl was dressed in a tight button collared sweater with equally tight black pants. Her stiffly-cut navy-blue hair sharply contrasted her gentle, amber eyes.  
  
"Well, after getting their butts kicked that bad, what did you expect Dana?" The small child stared around the scorched field. His dirty-blonde hair got in the way of his dim, pale blue eyes. His thick British accent was dominent.  
  
"Hamilton, don't talk like that. At least this time we landed on our feet instead of our heads." Her purple hair band held the short blonde hair in place, eyes looking exactly like the boy's, and an equally thick accent. Her long dress looked like it was from the 50's and carried a rather large purse. It seemed she had all the make-up in the world in the yellow bag to maintain her radiating beauty.  
  
"You can say that again Emilia. I'm still sore..." The dark brown haired boy rubbed the area still plagued with bruises. His jean jacket seemd too small for him, but he always refuses to take it off even though it was torn, ripped, dirty...  
  
"You think you're hurting Alex, I had a bruise the size of a grapefruit!" The little girl was a lot younger looking than the British boy, but her attitude was bigger than a Monochromon. Her red ponytail swished violently as she ran around to inspect the scattered eggs and digimon.  
  
"That Gabrielle can be too cute..." the light purple haired boy stood with crossed arms, "...I hate cute." His white sleevless collared shirt (Cloud:what's with me and collared clothes?! Too much Yama-chan I guess~_^) made him look more Chinese than Japanese. His light grey pants made him look like an angel with silver eyes.  
  
"...the baby digimon..." She held onto her necklace, the scar on her cheek still on the process of healing. Her pitch black hair absorbed the light of the sun with ease. Her light brown eyes crystalized in the sun. She was dressed with navy-blue jeans and a light purple shirt. She probed the ground full of bloody digimon and didn't like the sight.  
  
"What's wrong Midori? Cat got your tongue?" The purple haired boy smirked, "My, what a mess isn't it? All these babies crushed by us... It kinda made the scenery much lighter on the eyes..." She remained silent, absorbing all the blades of words from him. She felt very guilty for their deaths.  
  
"Shut up Itami!" Asato stepped in from of the shy girl. He was slightly taller than her, and rivaled the harrassing boy, "Leave her alone." Itami just gave a shrug and turned the other way.  
  
"Thanks..." was all the girl said. He acknowledged the gratitude with a smile. He turned to the group, then at their surroundings. The ground was scorched where they had landed, and the injured baby digimon were crawling steadly away from them.  
  
"Being back here again means one thing. Obviously, our digimon are dead and we being sent to Primary Village means that our digimon are here as well." Asato proclaimed.  
  
"Well duh..." Itami murmured.  
  
"Do you have something to say Itami?" Asato's icy stare shot at Itami. The boy didn't flinch, simply gave another smirk and remained silent. "We'll split up into groups of two. The sooner we find them, the faster we can get out of here."  
  
Emilia and Hamilton, being brother and sister, partnered up while Dana and Alexander (Cloud:"Alex" is his nickname) paired. Midori remained silent as Asato announced he goes with her. She was the only one he ever really trusted in the group. Itami refused to be partnered with a "sniveling twit" and left on his own. Gabrielle joined Emilia's group and they headed off.  
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"Judging from the direction they were headed, and from the information that Gennai gave us, I calculate they landed on or near Primary Village." Koushirou typed away at his computer as the Digidestined were marching towards the village of new life.  
  
"Hey, maybe we'll meet Leomon and the others. They must look so cute when they're babies." Mimi imagined the tiny fury Fresh digimon bouncing all around her. She and Palmon discussed what they would look like with Takeru and Hikari joined in. Taichi was glad Mimi was occupying the younger ones. It seemed everyone was depressed since the announcement of Gennai's impending death. They kept quiet about it, especially Koushiro. He buried himself more than usual in his computer.  
  
Yamato had other introspection to do. He didn't know why, but he felt the urge to stay in the Digiworld. He felt as though there was unfinished buisness left for him to complete. And that unquenchable urge intensified with the new threat they were about to face.   
  
Jyou had other reasons to think about. He thought that he had rushed the decision to stay in the Digiworld, and this mission was a perfect oppurtunity to think it thouroughly. Gomamon nudged him on the ankle to pull him out of his trance. Jyou may not have said it but he was glad Gomamon was his digimon. The furry seal supported him in all the decisions he made, and Jyou was grateful for that. To him, Gomamon was the real Keeper of Reliability.  
  
With his mini-telescope in hand, Taichi announced that Primary Village was near.  
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"You know as well as I do tht we won't find my digimon." Her voice was low and monotone. Midori stood beside Asato and his newly born digimon, Chiisamon. The Fresh digimon was ash-black with rose red eyes. "All the new digimon seem to get better at their digivolving. Apoclymon can't come back this way..." She gestured to a blue-stripped orange digiegg.  
  
"Hey, don't worry. If he doesn't come back, then I'll protect you." He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Midori was somewhat flustered by all the attention she was getting from him. All she did was save his life once, and she never asked for anything in return. Asato tugged on her arm torwards the hill and she followed suit. "We can get a better view of the area from there."  
  
At the summit, the whole village seemed like a child's toy box. Eggs scattered everywhere but an unusual scene caught Chiisamon's eye, "Nya, nya!" it purred in its high pitched voice.  
  
Both humans turned to take in the view of sixteen figures, eight resembling themselves. Asato's mouth curved slightly, "Well well, I guess it's time we introduced ourselves. Chiisamon!" The Fresh digimon leaped off of the boy's arms and evolutions took place.  
  
A bright flash surrounded them, and the other children from the eclipse took this as a signal for battle. As if in sync, the whole village glowed with six black lights until only Rookie digimon stood their place.  
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"Whoa! What the heck is that?!" yelled Taichi, and the Digidestined arrived at the bottom of the hill holding the nearest flash of light.   
  
Sora was the first to catch sight of three figures at the summit. Only one of them was growing, "Look up there guys!"  
  
The light dissapated, leaving two figures shaped like humans and one that was obviously digimon. "So, you must be the Digidestined of Gennai." It was a male's voice.  
  
"And who might you be?" Taichi took on his leadership role, unafraid of what was to come.  
  
The male voiced figure stepped forward, waiting for the gasps to follow, "I didn't expect for us to meet so soon." He crossed his arms as Taichi and the others sucked in air from the sight of more children in the Digiworld. "Wingmon, attack!"  
  
A fairly large black bat, with what looked like a red "A" on its forhead, took to the sky and let out his ear piercing attack, "Sonic Yell!" The air filled with a deafening high pitced screech. All but Tailmon, being the quickest, got caught in the sonic waves. The attack by Wingmon was powerful, but left him vulnerable for attack and she took advantage.  
  
"Lightning Claw!" The bat was too slow to maneveur and fell crashing to the ground. The Digidestined regained their balance and the digimon were ready for battle.  
  
"Pepper Breath!" Agumon's aim was right on target but Wingmon became concious at the right time. It simply batted (Cloud:No pun intended^_^) away the fireball and attempted another, "Sonic Yell!"  
  
This time, everyone was ready for it and dodged it easily. Taichi, Hikari and Yamato evaded towards behind a boulder while the rest were in the open field. Taichi noticed only one digimon was attacking, "All right guys, everyone charge!"  
  
"Wait!" Yamato grabbed Taichi's waving hand, "The other kids maybe nearby to attack us!"   
  
"Are you still gonna contradict everthing I say Matt?! We've got him outnumbered so why don't we just..."  
  
Taichi was cut off. High pressure of water shattered the giant boulder into a million pieces and hurled the three across the hill. Another shockwave was aimed at their direction. "Hydro Cannon!" A mist of water exited from Serpentmon, with Dana at his side.  
  
"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon counter-acted just in time to nullify the attack, "Are you all alright?" The retilian wolf took to Yamato's side, a few scratches but nothing severe. Taichi and Hikari were checked upon by their own digimon. Looking up, they noticed another Rookie joined Serpentmon, Gorillamon with Alexander.   
  
From the back, Itami watched the battle. Damn it! Where the hell is Piedmon?! He was unsuccessful in finding his digimon.  
  
Takeru and the others had problems of their own. Palmon's Poison Ivy missed entrapping the very beautiful blonde girl and her Treemon, "Don't think a couple of strings will stop us!" Emilia exclaimed, "Treemon! Attack!"  
  
"Petal Storm!" A flurry of leaves and petels rained down on Palmon. The razor-sharp edges pierced the unexpected flower digimon's skin.   
  
"Marching Fishes!" Raibow of fishes each took a hit of flying petals and leaves. Treemon's attack lost ammo instantly and fell back, "Quitting all ready?" Gomamon taunted.  
  
"You leave my sister alone!" yelled Hamilton, his Ryumon following beside him.   
  
"Now it's time to get my revenge!" a very familliar voice pronounced. Demidevimon hovered above Gabrielle.  
  
"This is taking too long." Asato spat, "Everyone! Digivolve to your highest forms!" The others agreed with the idea and once again, columns of light appeared.   
  
"DEMIDEVIMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...DEVIMON!" Gabrielle jumped up and down in excitment.  
"GORILLAMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...PRIMEAPEMON! PRIMEAPEMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...ETAMON!" Alexander and Etamon made a high five.  
"WINGMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...INCUBUSMON! INCUBUSMON, DIGIVOLVE TO...MYOTISMON!" Asato smiled at his partner.  
"TREEMON, WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...PUPPETMON!" Emilia directed the puppet's attention to the Digidestined.  
"SERPENTMON, WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...METALSEADRAMON!" Dana petted the metal mask.  
"RYUMON, WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...MACHINEDRAMON!" Hamilton was the size of a grain of sand beside the metal dragon.  
(Cloud:That was so damn repetitive...)  
  
Jyou summed up the situation with two simple words, "Oh no..."   
  
"Let's show'em real digi-evolutions!" Taichi raised his digivice.  
  
"AGUMON, WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...WARGREYMON!"  
"GABUMON, WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...METALGARURUMON!"  
  
The others promptly followed and digivolved to their Ultimate forms. (Cloud:I am not going to write all their war-cries!_) Once again, the DigiDestined must battle. This time, it was against those of their own kind. MetalSeaDramon and MachineDramon took the front lines, as did WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon. The rest fell behind their respective Mega leaders. It only took the command from Asato to begin the war.   
  
Yamato scanned the battlefield. A very unlikely sight beheld his eyes. The evil digimon the children had grown to hate were protecting children. Children just like them. Just like Gabumon protected him through all the dangers of the Digiworld. It seemed all wrong. For some reason, he felt the whole situation was all wrong. But then, it struck him. Counting all the viruses, only six were present. Where are the other two?... Searching for any traces of ambush from the two missing digimon, his eyes fell upon a black haired girl near the edge of a cliff. She was dressed almost like him, with an expression of...sadness, just like his... "Matt!!"  
  
Yamato was shaken out of the trance by the scream of his brother, "T.K.! NOO~!" Myotismon had his Crimson Lightning wrapped around Takeru's neck, tightening its grip with every struggle from the little boy. "Let him go you bastard!"  
  
"My my, what foul language. Didn't your mommy teach you any matters?" Myotismon sneered while pulling the frightened boy closer to him. Yamato wasn't about to give up so easily. When it came to his brother, he would do anything for him. Picking up one of the shattered boulder's sharp remains, he sprinted over in a mad dash to reach his victim.  
  
"Let him go if you don't want anything to happen to her!" Arm wrapped around her neck and the knife-rock pointing at her scar, Yamato demanded the release of his brother. Myotismon didn't flinch but his human partner did.  
  
"Midori!! If you hurt her I swear...!" Asato threatened.  
  
"Then let my brother go!" He inched the blade closer to the girl's skin.  
  
"River of Power!"  
  
The light sliced throught the ground before the blonde and his hostage. The edge of the cliff crumbled away, taking with it the two children. The other's so busy with their war, didn't notice the two falling. Only the Dark leader and the Keeper of Hope screamed for their names.  
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So, how do you like it? Kinda confusing I know. I'm not very good with action scenes. Anyone have any suggestions on how I could improve? My "Last Waltz" series are written a lot better than this. Oh, there is a reason I chose the drama category, and it starts next chapter. What happened to Yamato and Midori? Is Takeru all right? What of the battle between the Destined? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters! *dodges flying pink-swirly poop* I know, I hate hearing that narrator practically taunting me. And he asks questions that are so unnecessary. Anywayz, I'm gonna shut up before I babble on. PLEASE R/R!  
  
Until next chapter... ^_~   
  
  
  
  



	3. Introductions

Disclaimer: Me no own Digimon. Me tired of writing this legal crap. Me go crazy writing this every time!! Stuff I made up are mine.  
  
Author's Note: For the convenience for the reader and for me, the Darkdestined's digimon will stay in the levels we all know and love (or hate). Also because I came up with the lamest names ever for their previous forms. ^_^ And I finally got to see the Myotismon prophecy again and found out I forgot some stuff om the prophecy portion of Ch.1. Oh well, as long it made sense.  
  
Remember: thoughts  
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"Crests of Destiny"  
By Cloud Ishida  
  
~Chapter 3-Introductions~  
  
"Where am I?..." A spotlight over his head.  
  
"Get up." A voice from the darkness.  
  
"Who's there?!"  
  
"It isn't your time. You need to go back." came the words from the dark image's mouth.   
  
"What are you talking about...who are you?" his blue eyes searched the darkness surrounding him.  
  
"Go back, hurry..." the dark image stepped towards the light, revealing the reflection of the blue-eyed boy, "...she's waiting."   
  
And with that, consciousness took over.  
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His eyes fluttered open at the blazing sun overhead. His head ached like hell and his body equally felt stiff and sore. His thoughts wandered to the last moments he could remember. A ray of light...falling...a blue flash...darkness. Thinking seemed to make the headache worse so he decided to just lie still and be a blank slate. Surrounding him were trees, offering some protection from the sun's blinding rays. A fire was set across from him, and a thought that gave him a jolt of pain rushed in, Someone had to have started it...the question is, who?  
  
The blonde's head jerked at the rustle of the leaves behind him. He remained silent and hoped whatever it was would just go away. It was hard for him to just sit up let alone run for his life. Waiting for the inevitable, he clenched his fists, ready to not die without a fight. All his tensions eased as the figure finally emerged. For some reason, he hoped it was a fierce digimon.   
  
Before him was a girl. A human girl at that. This caught him by surprise. As she approached him, he saw long, black hair; her brown eyes glistened to crystalline form in the sunlight. She wore clothing almost matching him. There was no question that she was the hostage he took. In her hands she held halves of a fruit in each. But those weren't what he really focused on. She had a scar over her right cheek, he remembered that, but the one cutting across her left eye was unknown to him.   
  
The girl noticed his alertness, and bent down near him setting the two halves. He finally observed that water was in the two halves that served as bowls. "I see that you're awake. But you really shouldn't be getting up so quickly. But as long as your up..." she lifted one of the bowls and holds it in front of him, offering a drink. The boy's throat was burning for the fresh, coolness of the liquid substance and almost lunged for it. Water spilled over him, but he was too occupied to notice. "Hey, slow down. Keep doing that and you're gonna..." the blonde boy went on a coughing spree, "...choke. Told you."  
  
When the boy settled, that was when he noticed the cuts and bruises all over his body. Crashing down from a cliff takes a lot out of a person, and surprising he was still alive. At that height, it should have killed him and her on impact. He felt a hand on his back and chest as he was motioned to lie back down. She reached for a giant leaf on the other side of him. When she passed over, he noticed she had a very broad body. Almost masculine. Another fact was feminine beauty was not on her priority list. But her eyes conveyed compassion.  
  
She covered him up with the leaf, serving as a blanket. But a question was nagging at him that needed to be answered, "Why are you doing this...?"  
  
Her face was frozen by the question, "Do what?"  
  
"Helping me. You saved me didn't you?"   
  
The blonde's words shocked the black haired girl, "Please, I did no such thing. You wanted to live. When I woke up, you were still unconscious. That blue light saved us. I just softened the impact." She massaged the new scar on her eye. The boy understood. She got the scar protecting him. But why would she... "You wanted to come back, that's why you're still breathing." The blonde blinked at her words. They seemed harsh, but truth written all over them.  
  
"We haven't introduced ourselves have we?" The blonde worked from the aches and pains to form a smile, and the girl unknowingly returned his show of affection, "I'm Yamato Ishida."  
  
The girl blinked for a moment, hesitating to reveal her name when finally, the words came on their own, "Midori Kuroyami."   
-----------------------------------------------------  
"Damn it!" his soccer kick showed no mercy and struck the pebble under his shoe and barely missed Jyou's nose. Taichi was frustrated with the last battle. Gennai was dying, Takeru was captured, and Yamato was missing. The only thing that saved them was when Asato called for withdrawal. He foolishly rushed into battle, just what Yamato warned him about.   
  
"Tai, it isn't your fault. And now is not the time to be sulking." Sora placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm her long time friend.  
  
"Hey guy's, we're here." Koushiro announced from the front. His eyes never left the computer. On it was the map of the Digital World, magnified to Gennai's position. If the yellow, flashing light ever stopped, it meant the end of the old digimon. He was hesitant to go in, afraid since the urgent e-mail from Gennai.  
  
"Gennai!" Taichi called out. No answer. Koushiro magnified the map to form a detailed map of the house. The tiny boy led the way while the others followed closely behind them. In the back of the group, Hikari started to lag behind. Taichi noticed his sister's descent, "Kari, what's wrong?..."  
  
"It feels like...something's fading..." her crest produced a dull glow, "...as if a light is fading..."  
  
"Tai! Kari! He's here!" The two Yagami's rushed over to the fallen man, breathing his last, crucial breaths. His light was fading.  
  
Children and digimon gathered around him, and noticed two were missing, "I see...that... *cough**wheeze* ...it didn't go...well." He rested his hand on his heaving chest, knowing his he was at his last moments.  
  
"Shh...Don't try to speak..." Koushiro whispered. Tears flowed on their own, streaming down his small, soft cheeks. He took Gennai's hand from his chest and held him tight, like he could make the old digimon stay if he squeezed hard enough, "You'll be alright..." He knew in his heart it was a lie.  
  
"I...must tell *cough* all...to defeat them...you must..." The hand in Koushiro's hand relaxed for the final time. Mimi cried in Sora's arms, Taichi let Hikari cry on him. Jyou comforted the digimon. His chest stopped its motion. One by one, tiny data broke away from the tired old body until nothing was left of him, as if he never existed at all. One flat object remained. In his place, a yellow disk remained.  
  
Koushiro slowly picked it up, seeing it as a memento from his friend and mentor. It was then that Patamon, still saddened by the loss of Takeru and now Gennai, noticed the computer flashing red dots surrounding a yellow one. "Um...Izzy..." he was hesitant to bother his grieving, "...is that supposed to be there?"  
  
The tear-filled eyes turned to where Patamon pointed. His eyes widened, tears still slowly dropping. The yellow light was still there. But why should it? He died right in front of him. Taking his computer, he furiously typed sequences and codes. The map grew to show the entire Digital World. "This is strange..." Koushiro muttered.  
  
"What is it Izzy?" Taichi asked, the others were still mourning.  
  
"As the very least, I would expect the yellow light that represents Gennai at Primary Village but..." he typed in more numbers and letters, "...My computer says he's still here...yet...not..."  
  
"You're not making any sense Izzy. Gennai just died. Vaporized into data. We saw it with our own eyes!" Jyou exclaimed.  
  
"That's just it. There should be no reason ex...cept..." Koushiro started to type once more, forgetting about the tears, "Tentomon, do you still remember the program I used for mapping the real world?"   
  
"I sure do." Tentomon flew over to his partner and helped with the codes. The others sat and watched Koushiro use his magic on his computer.   
  
Gabumon, troubled by Yamato's disappearance, thought of a suggestion, "Izzy, could you find the others with that?" Koushiro didn't answer, or he didn't hear at all. Once he sets out a task, everything else is blocked out. Gabumon just sat back too depressed to try.  
  
"Got it. I'll hook it up to Gennai's main computer." Instantly, two maps appeared, both looking very similar too each other, "As you might remember, this one represents the Digiworld, and this Earth. Now look." The others observed two flashes of yellow light. The Earth one was much brighter than the Digital World's.  
  
"So, what is this suppose to tell us?" Sora asked through her sniffles.  
  
"This yellow light represents Gennai. Now, why would there be one in the Real World?"  
  
"Maybe it's just a computer glitch or something..." Mimi suggested, tears still flowing.  
  
"I'll tell you what it is. This means that Gennai is still alive!"  
  
The others had a confused look. Most were faces of sadness, "Izzy," Taichi started, "I know Gennai meant a lot to you but...he's dead. He's gone Izzy..."  
  
"NO!" A yell full of anger and desperation dispersed throughout the room. Everyone was taken back by Koushiro's sudden outburst. Even Tentomon was startled. He never expected such thing from his gentle human friend. "He is alive! This light means that he's alive in the Real World..." he pressed another button, "These red lights are us. They're on both maps. We're existing in two worlds at once. This means, there is a real Gennai out there somewhere."   
  
They couldn't believe what he was saying, "But, wasn't he a digimon like us?" Agumon questioned.  
  
"He said he was but wasn't. He had no attributes. This explains his background. How could he appear just anywhere where we were all the time unless he was watching from the outside?"  
  
"Now don't get ahead of yourself Izzy." Taichi advised, "First, we should at least see what the disk has."  
  
Koushiro didn't want to, he wanted to leave right now to find him. But by much urging from the others, he loaded the disk of Gennai.  
----------------------------------------------------  
"Why did you call off the attack?!" Itami bellowed out of his lungs. The Darkdestined were so close to wiping out the Digidestined, but their leader called for a withdrawal. "And why can't we just kill that brat right now?!" he pointed to a sleeping Takeru, set in a trance by Myotismon.  
  
"My orders are made for a reason." Asato said firmly.   
  
Myotismon floated beside his destined child, "You don't want to provoke me. It isn't pretty." Even though he was programmed to be evil and destroy, his instinct to protect his child came first, as with all the other Darkdestined's digimon. Asato's eyes paid no attention to his silver rival, but on his black digivice. Seven red dots representing the Darkdestined flashed relentlessly. He moved his device left and right to pick up the signal of his fallen comrade. The others watched their fight unfold. They learned the hard way that leaving them be was the best way.  
  
"Why are you wasting your time searching for her! You're wasting my time! We still haven't found Piedmon and those Digi-brats are probably hunting us right now!" The silver angel looking boy took Asato by the collar.  
  
Alexander stepped forward to Itami's side, "He might be right Asato. I mean, shouldn't we be planning on a way to get rid of them?..." his voice was full of anxiety. Etamon was in the back, writing more lyrics to add to his rock'n'roll songs.  
  
"Don't be such a coward Alex. And you..." he swatted away Itami's hands, then replaced his digivice to his belt, "What I say goes."  
  
"How could you have feelings for such a loser? Why in hell you got the Crest of Hate I will never know. With your hideous body, you should have gotten the crest of ugline..." his sentence was cut short by Asato's fist.  
  
"Do us all a favour and shut up." He gave the signal to move out. The others marched. Itami was left with rearranging his jaw. MetalSeaDramon's tails wrapped around Takeru and carried Dana on his head.  
  
Walking with his digivice in hand once more, they travelled to find their...his, missing companion. He let his free hand reach into his shirt, feeling his bithmarks. Since birth, he had maroon-red pigments scattered all around his skin, a skin disorder. It even reached to his face, always covered by his light brown hair. And since he was a child, he was made fun of. Mocked for his "deformity". The rest of the Darkdestined learned not to toy with his looks. All that is except for Itami. Midori was the only one making no notice of his scars. The one who saved his life.  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
"Izzy! You don't have to do this! Gennai already told us how to defeat them!" Sora pleaded with the determined Koushiro. The disk was a message from Gennai. In case he could never see the Digidestined's faces again, he made a disk with instructions on defeating the Darkdestined and a good-bye message. Apparently, Koushiro wasn't satisfied with it.  
  
"I'm going to Canada. That's where the signal's coming from." Koushiro packed his computer and Tentomon was ready to go with him. The metal insect refused to be away from his side, even if it did sound crazy.  
  
"I'll go with you..." An unexpected proposal from Jyou. The others turned to him. It was the second time he caught their attention, "It'll be dangerous for you to go alone. I mean, two heads are better than one." said a smiling Jyou.  
  
"...Thanks Jyou." Koushiro had to look high up to meet Jyou's eyes.  
  
"And two digimon heads beats two human heads anyday!" Gomamon joked while nudging Tentomon. The children and digimon giggled out loud. It was a relief to be able to laugh through their prediciment. Everyone could count on Gomamon for that.  
  
Typing sequences on his computer, a pillar of purple and grey light appeared before the four travellers. Waving good-bye, they disappered into the beam and faded away.  
  
The rest finished their waves, and waited for their order, "All right guys," Taichi started, "let's go find Matt and save T.K."   
---------------------------------------------------------  
"Thanks." Yamato recieved the freshly cooked fish from Midori. Altogether, he probably had three, but his hunger never subsided. Midori, on the other hand, ate less then one, giving her share to Yamato to satisfy his hunger. Halfway through his forth helping, he realized he was hoarding all the food, "Oh! I'm sorry! I can't believe I pigged out like that. Uhhh...here." he reached out the half-eated fish.  
  
"Don't worry. You need it more than me." The truth was, she was hungry, and sleepy and tire. She kept up watch all night and gathered all the food. Yamato felt guilty. A total stranger that he took hostage was taking more care of him than his own father, or his mother.  
  
Just this morning, he felt himself being held in Midori's arms when he woke up. At first, he thought she was just trying to come on to him, to take him down since they were supposed to be mortal enemies. But he did remember that he felt really cold. Her body warmed him up, and felt that she did it out of pure compassion.  
  
He had to repay her. Feeling around for his harmonica, he drew it out. Soulful music filled the woods. Midori perked up and turned to Yamato. She sat, listening to every note and absorbing the feelings it expressed. The roaring fire seemed to be tamed by the gentle music and dance to its new master. When the music finished, clapping replaced it, "That was wonderful! You are truly talented Yamato."  
  
"Thanks." He usually never let people call him by his full name. He actually would make people call him "Matt". He placed the harmonica in his pocket and continued to eat, "And I'm not the only one around here with a talent." He pointed to the images that were drawn in the soil. Midori blushed slightly at Yamato's discovery.   
  
She never let anyone see her drawings. Must've forgot to erase them... she thought. "They're nothing special."  
  
"Nothing?!" Yamato was awe struck by the images of digimon he had met or yet to see, "They're the same likeness of real digimon." Midori smiled and blushed even more. Despite the way she looks, she sure is shy. "Ya know, you remind me a lot of Gabumon, my digimon. You barely had any sleep and I ended up eating everything. And I have you to thank for taking care of me. I'll repay you for all that you've done."  
  
A new sensation surged through Midori. Could this be a start of a friendship? That would go against everything she believed in. After all, it could be a trap to destroy the Darkdestined one by one. But the thought of a friend was tantalizing. "You have a crest?" asked Yamato.  
  
"Huh?" she snapped out of her trance.  
  
"A crest." He pulled out his own, "Like this one."  
  
She hesitated a bit; not sure to trust a stranger let alone an enemy she was chosen to destroy. She took out a black tag and navy-blue crest, "What does your crest mean?"   
  
Yamato didn't want to say, considering how much he felt he didn't deserve it, "Mine is the most incompatible to me of all. It's the Crest of Friendship..." He wasn't particularly proud of it, but he had to deal with it.  
  
It was Midori's turn, and she spoke with confidence and conviction, "Mine, is the Crest of Loneliness. And I am most compatible with it."  
  
That was when her black digivice started to beep. A streak of bloody-red light wrapped around Yamato, Midori reaching out to loosen the Crimson Lightning. The stream wrapped around his neck and was thrown to a nearby tree. Behind Myotismon, the Keeper of Hate stood.  
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The fic is moving kinda fast. I'm starting to focus on Izzy a bit, and I didn't plan it either. I guess the little guy got to me too. But Yama-chan still #1 in my mind! ^_^ The next chapter is most likely to focus on Izzy and Jyou (I kinda write these fics on the spot.) and kind of a rivalry between a Destined and Darkdestined. I should plan these out more huh? Anywayz, review if you like, I like getting them. ^_~ See ya!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Rivals

Disclaimer: It doesn't really matter if I don't say the disclaimer since I'm not making profit from this. But they have several high paid lawyers to dwindle innocent people like me (me innocent? HA!) of their money. So in that note, I do not own Digimon. Maybe someday I can by like whoever created it or like Satoshi Tajiri and make millions off little kids scamming money from their parents. Hmmm...not a bad idea... *heh::evil grin*  
  
Author's Note: I am quite aware that Apoclymon destroyed the crests, but there's a reason I kept them in the fic (like when Yamato showed his to Midori). It was not a mistake. I swear! *sweat drops* Really! I know my Digimon!! :p   
  
Another thing, I like making relationships ambiguous (especially with this fic). There seems to be a huge divide between yaoi/yuri and straight couples and their readers/writers making a stupid war out of it. Like I said in my other fic that had a focus on Yamato and Taichi: Think of it as being they're best friends or if you like yaoi/yuri, couples. This way, it should keep both sides happy...I think... Besides, I like focusing on the contents of a relationship rather then labelling them. I'll shut up now, so on with the story! ^_^  
  
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"Crests of Destiny"  
By Cloud Ishida  
  
  
~Chapter 4-Rivals~  
  
  
Gomamon crawled out of the pillar of light only to step into a mud puddle in the middle of a field. He nodded his head as he takes in the view with paws wide open, "So, this is Canada..." (Cloud: That's a little inside joke with me and my friend) The light behind him faded and Koushiro, Jyou and Tentomon stood in its place.  
  
"This is the Maritimes; the province of Nova Scotia, I think. There's a town near here..." Koushiro typed away on his laptop to call a map with the yellow dot. Jyou looked over his shoulder and had no idea of what the boy genius was conjuring. Suddenly, both digivices beeped in unison. Jyou checked his, wondering if the others were accidentally teleported with them. On the tiny screen, a yellow one at some distance accompanied two red dots, representing himself and Koushiro. "I've programmed our digivices to track Gennai's whereabouts. This way, I don't have to look up my computer every five minutes."  
  
"I guess we better hurry. I mean, right now, a week must've past in the Digiworld." Jyou placed his digivice on his belt. He left his medical bag in the Digital World knowing the others would need it more than them.  
  
"Don't worry about that. Remember, Gennai said the appearance of Apoclymon caused the two worlds to synchronize time. So in fact, only two minutes has passed there." Koushiro seemed a lot calmer than he did before. The death of Gennai was something he wouldn't accept. He could understand why the others would contradict him. If he were in their place, he would too assume that was illogical. But he was glad he wasn't making the trip alone. He could understand why Tentomon would want to go with him but had a harder time understanding Jyou. He helped Mimi out before but he thought Jyou had a little crush on her.  
  
"Hey Izzy? Tentomon to Izzy?" He waved his claw in front Koushiro's sleepy eyes.  
  
The boy snapped from his trance and turned to his metal friend, "Huh? Oh, sorry Tentomon. I was just thinking."  
  
"Well think while you walk, Jyou and Gomamon already headed off." he buzzed, fluttering in mid-air.  
  
"Yeah, I'm going..." The four set out on their quest.   
---------------------------------------------------------  
"What are you doing back here again?" The voice was from the darkness.  
  
"You again? Who are you? And where am I?" The blonde asked to his empty surroundings.  
  
"Don't you even know 'you' when you see it?" the voiced joked, and it was a very familiar voice indeed. "Yamato, you need to go back to her."  
  
"Go back to who? What are you trying to say?" The surrounding started to dwindle, fading in waves like the ocean.  
  
"That's it," the voice encouraged, "go back. She's waiting for you."  
*********************************************************  
"Hey, good to have you back."  
  
Yamato was greeted with a sting in his arm. The girl he met before, who saved his life, gently cleaned the cut he had on his arm. On the other side of him, laid an unexpected figure. Sound asleep, resting his head on his dark blue jeans, Takeru was in a dream world. "T..K...?" His head was still spinning from the impact with the tree.  
  
"Don't worry, he's not hurt." Midori continued to clean up Yamato, staining herself with some of his blood. "For a minute there, I thought you would never open those blue eyes."  
  
"Where am I?" Yamato was tied up against a tree, with Takeru having a chain connected to the same tree to his ankle. Looking around, the forest was bustling with activity from Etamon and Puppetmon. Myotismon hid in the shadows to avoid the sunlight and Devimon accompanied him. MachineDramon was in plain view near a lake with a tiny boy sitting on his head. MetalSeaDramon splashed and dove in the crystal clear water, obviously enjoying his swim.   
  
"You're with us." Midori stepped in front of him, smiling to comfort him. "I'm sorry you're tied up like this, but Itami and Asato insisted."  
  
"Itami and who...?" His head was still spinning.  
  
"Asato." She pointed to two figures. From afar, Yamato thought he was seeing a silver angel. The other was darker in colour, and it seemed they were in a fight. "They're fighting again. It was a miracle for them to agree to tie you up. Everyday is a war between them. I just wish he'd stop fighting like that."  
  
"Do you like him?" Midori flinched by the question. Yamato himself flinched, not knowing why he even asked such a question.  
  
"Well, I don't know, actually." She turned away from his gaze, nervousness creeping over her whenever she met the blue eyes, "I just worry about him a lot, that's all. They fight so much I just want to punch them my selves. They fight about the smallest things. One can never see the other's side of a situation."   
  
That sounds familiar...Do we fight that badly, Tai? Yamato turned his eyes back to Midori, still tending his wounds. "You're helping me again." A refraction of light from her pendent reminded him of her crest. Crest of Loneliness... "Are you sure you don't have the crest of compassion?" He managed a weak smile even through his aching head, telling him to go back to sleep to stop the pain.  
  
She couldn't help but smile back, "Ha ha, very funny. I don't deserve such a crest." She noticed his lips moving downward, Did I say something wrong? "But thanks for thinking that way." The lips curved upward again, but a shadow loomed over them.   
  
"And what are you smiling about?" Asato stood in front of Yamato, arms crossed and crimson running from his lips. Yamato instantly recognized the figure. He's the one with Myotismon...the one who attacked... The first thing he noticed was the strange cluster of pigment under his light brown hair. They covered most of his face, and he seemed to try very hard to cover them.  
  
"Oh Asato. You're bleeding again." She grabbed another cloth and wiped the bloody lip, "You two really shouldn't be fighting at a time like this."  
  
"Sorry, Midori," his voice was as gentle as a morning breeze, "but you know how he gets to me." He gently took the cloth and cleaned dirt from his face. Her attention fleeted elsewhere.  
  
"Are you thirsty Yamato?" she asked in a voice only used with Asato, and he caught onto it. Yamato nodded in thanks and asked for food for Takeru. He noticed his brother seemed a little on the thin side. Midori was happy to oblige and headed off to the lake. Before she took three steps, she turned to Asato, "Please don't do anything..." She continued with her errand.  
  
Asato waited for her to mover farther, then made his move. He clenched the stained cloth and swung his fist right into Yamato's stomach, knocking all the air out of him. Yamato coughed at the sudden attack and loss of breath. He lurched forward as far as the ropes would let him. Wasting no time, Asato lifted the blonde's head up pulling on his hair, "Don't get in the way blondie, and don't you dare get close to her." His voice was low and bitter, complete opposite of how he spoke to Midori just before.  
  
Yamato still felt the pain, but showed no signs of it in his arrogant smirk, "How can I when I'm all tied up like this?" He spat at the narrow eyed face. Blood mixed in with saliva as it hit its mark on the cheek. Asato didn't flinch; instead he shoved Yamato's head away. "Asato!" He turned immediately to the source of the voice. Midori stood there with one bowl of water in her hand. Asato wiped the dripping liquid from his cheek and walked the other way.  
  
Midori walked passed Asato, heading right for Yamato's side, "Are you all right?"  
  
"Don't worry about me. I'm built like a rock." He grinned to hide his sore stomach, "What does he have, the crest of bullying defenceless people?"   
  
"Actually," she turned to watch Asato's back, disappearing the farther he went, "the Crest of Hate. Alex has the Crest of Fear, Emilia has Doubt, Hamilton has Ignorance, Gabrielle with Despair, Dana is Deceit and Itami...his is Darkness." By the time she explained, Asato was out of her sight.  
  
His green eyes flickered in the light of dusk, turning almost red. This isn't over blondie, I not going to let anyone take anything from me anymore. His crest glowed blood red.  
---------------------------------------------------------------  
"Jyou..." Koushiro had to ask the question that was plaguing his mind, "why do you want to stay in the Digiworld?..."  
  
"Huh?...Oh, well..." He didn't want to say right now, he wasn't really even sure himself. In his arms, Gomamon looked into Jyou's eyes with encouragement. All his life he was afraid to tell people of his true self, to tell his ideas and his life as he wants it. But maybe, just maybe, Koushiro will understand. He's kinda went through what I'm going through hasn't he? He knew that he was adopted, and everyone expected only the best from him. Does he hate that kind of pressure too?   
  
"Jyou?" Koushiro repeated for the eleventh time. Tentomon advised he stop asking if Jyou didn't want to say.  
  
"No, it's all right." Jyou looked down at Gomamon and the green eyes blinked back. "Well, I'm kinda scared."  
  
"Huh? Scared of what?" Koushiro asked concerned. Jyou would complain a lot, not as much as Mimi but it seemed like something was really troubling him.  
  
"You know how my dad is pushing me to be a doctor. But, I don't think I want to be one..." Jyou stopped in his tracks, and Gomamon squeezed his arms wrapping around his soft, white fur.  
  
"It's okay. Everyone goes through this. No one is really sure of what they want to be until it happens and..." Koushiro was cut off abruptly Jyou.  
  
"That's not what I mean!" Even Jyou was a little surprise by his outburst, "Sorry, I just mean...being a doctor is my father's dream, and my brother's... heck even my mom is a nurse." He let his head sink down, Gomamon nuzzling his nose into his sweater. Koushiro just stood there silent. Only Tentomon's buzzing could be heard. "I want a different life, but they expect me to be one of them. Jim says I should follow my own dream but...there's so much pressure for me to be who I'm not."  
  
"What is your dream...?" Koushiro was cautious so as not to make Jyou worse than he's already feeling, "What do you want to be?"  
  
Tears flowed freely, taking his glasses off he wiped them with his arm, "When I'm in the Digiworld, I'm a whole new person. I'm a hero. I'm needed. I can do things that I could only dream of in the Real World. I was allowed to choose who I was. I don't want to give up on that freedom."  
  
"Jyou..." The little boy lent his hand to the taller's shoulder.  
  
"This may sound stupid but," his confession was about to take light, "I like drawing. Through them, I can be whomever I want. I want to be an artist, be whatever but as long as I can still create. That's my passion."   
  
Koushiro never heard Jyou talk with such feeling. He seemed like a completely different person from those times he was cowering against a tree and fainting every five minutes. This was a Jyou who knew what he wanted, and crying right before his eyes. Not tears of fear, but of longing. He stepped closer, and let his body collide with Jyou's. The embrace was so comforting to Jyou, to know he wasn't mocked. "Uh, I know this is supposed to be a sweet and tender moment, but I can't breathe!" The moment was disturbed by Gomamon's struggle between them. Koushiro backed away and the furry seal jumped out of his partner's arms, "See Jyou? I told it wasn't hard, right?"  
  
Jyou just smiled and sniffled, "Yeah Gomamon, it wasn't hard at all."  
  
"Jyou, if you need to talk again... After all, we are friends." He let the offer stand, and turned to continue their journey. Tentomon buzzed nearby.  
  
Thanks Izzy... The four walked off to the sun setting on a nearby town. ------------------------------------------------------  
"Thanks Midori." Takeru took the berries and ate till he burst. He seemed very happy for someone being held hostage. Midori made sure he wasn't hurt, understanding that he was just a child. Yamato was still held exactly at the same spot. His legs were starting to feel numb but at least his headache subsided.  
  
Night had fallen on the Digital World. The Darkdestined gathered around a campfire, planning out the schedule for next day. Hamilton and Gabrielle were already asleep, while MachineDramon and Devimon stayed beside them but listened in on the meeting. Midori joined the group, and the meeting finally started, "It's about time." Emilia snapped.  
  
"I just needed to get them some food." Midori explained.  
  
"In case you didn't notice, they are our prisoners. You don't make help out prisoners." Itami was very irritated by Midori's attitude towards the two Digidestined. From the beginning he wanted both of them dead and all the others agreed with him. But Asato's feelings for her prevented from anything too severe from happening.  
  
"We can discuss that later!" Asato commanded. He made sure his authority was known, "First off, there is a matter of Piedmon."  
  
"Finally we can get to my problem." the silver angel mumbled.  
  
Asato pretended not to hear Itami's remark, "Since Piedmon was sent through the Gate of Destiny, it's logical to assume that opening it will be the only way to get him back."  
  
"If that's true," Dana said, "then that HolyAngemon has to open that gate again. But how do we get him to use it?"  
  
"That's where the kid comes into play." The Darkdestined leader pointed to Takeru, still taking in the sweet berries, "When the Digidestined come to save them, that Patamon will have to digivolve. Aren't you glad you didn't kill him when you had the chance Itami" Asato smirked at him, doing everything he can to annoy his rival.  
  
"I say kill now and ask questions later." Itami left the group and took his side to sleep. I can't take this anymore. It's high time I've made my move. He let his lip curl in delight, It'll be a see of blood tomorrow...  
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"Well, this is the place." Koushiro took out his computer to make sure they were at their destination.  
  
"You mean this run down apartment?" Jyou looked at the broken floorboard and rusted doors. It looked as if the place would fall down at any moment.  
  
All four looked at the pineapple laptop upon hearing the confirmation. Fifth floor, room 560 was "Gennai's" apartment. Koushiro stood up to the door, raising his hand and...froze.  
  
"What's wrong Izzy?" Tentomon waved his claw in front of the small boy, once again in a trance like before.  
  
"Nothing. I was just wondering, what he'll be like."  
  
"Well, we'll never know until we knock right?" Gomamon urged.  
  
He knocked three times, and waited what seemed like forever for until the door creaked open. There at the doorway, a man, about in his thirties, towered over Koushiro. He looked exactly like the young Gennai they saw during the trip to the past. Only his face looked worn, as if he was too tired to live anymore. The little boy gulped, Jyou stood silent and the digimon stayed still to act like dolls in case they got the wrong person. But there was no need of that.  
  
"...Izzy?" the man whispered with wide eyes.  
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"How long are you gonna sleep?" It was the voice from the darkness again. This time, Yamato could see the figure that was speaking to him all this time. He was surprised, yet not. A part of him knew whom to expect, because that part of him was whom he saw. He saw the exact image of himself, telling him to go back to "her" again.  
  
"Who are you? Who are you talking about?" The lack of reasons and answers was annoying Yamato.  
  
"Don't you know? I am you, the Keeper of Friendship, the reason you have that crest." The Yamato twin reached out to the other and stroked his cheek, "She's waiting." With that, the dark world faded.  
**********************************************************  
"KYYAAAA--!" Yamato and Takeru had a rude awakening, snapped out of their dreams by a scream. Blinking his eyes to rid them of sleep, Yamato scanned the site for the source of the scream. The Darkdestined all huddled in a group, a blonde girl covering her eyes from the sight. Midori slowly made her way away from the group, emotionless eyes staring at the ground headed for the two brothers. His eyes moving back to the group, he noticed that a digimon was missing. Mainly, Devimon.  
  
"What do you think that was Matt?" Takeru asked in a groggy voice.   
  
"I don't know T.K." He waited for Midori to come before saying anything else. "Midori, what happened?"  
  
She looked up at him with indifferent eyes. "Gabrielle is dead."  
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This chapter didn't come out as good as I thought it would. Not as much Jyou and Koushirou as I hoped I could have. Next chapter is going to be better, I swear. Nova Scotia, Canada was randomly chosen. Plus, it would have been too typical if Gennai was in the U.S. or Japan. The rating's gonna be pulled up the rating to R for blood and stuff. Someone is going to be on a major killing spree. (Gee, I wonder who?) I really made this too obvious...D'OH! Gotta go massage my brain for ideas. Till nest chapter...:)   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Angel of Death

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.  
  
Author's Note: Heads are gonna fly in this chapter (LITERALLY)! Bloody scenes.  
  
Note: thoughts  
  
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"Crests of Destiny"  
By Cloud Ishida  
  
~Chapter 5-Angel of Death~  
  
"What the hell happened?!" A pool of blood spread on the dry soil, Asato demanding the reason for the horrific scene. The tiny child was severed at the neckline, and the blood continued to flow. It was surprising to see so much from such a small body.  
  
"I just...found her like...this..." Emilia was the one to scream at the sight, now she was shaken by the image.  
  
"Wait, where's Devimon?" Alexander noticed the missing digimon.  
  
Asato stared at the body, and noticed a shattered object beside her. Kneeling down for a closer inspection, he noticed it was black and had shades of a tan colour. Her crest's been destroyed... "I don't think we'll be seeing him again." He held up the bloodied, broken crest.   
  
"But...why..." Hamilton stuttered while he held on to his shaking sister.  
  
"Remember...our crests are connected to our digimon. If our crests are destroyed, then so is the digimon." Asato spoke with no feeling in his voice. His mind was going through questions on the event that has happened. Looking around the huddled group, his eyes only fell on one boy. Watching the boy's lips, he swore he saw a glimpse of a smile. Itami... His instincts cried out his name. "We're moving. Pack everything, we'll head out in five minutes." His low voice finalized the command and willed the others not to question it.   
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"What do you mean dead?" Yamato was shocked by the news. She just stood there, taking in the image that she saw, scared, yet nothing affected her emotionally.   
  
"She was beheaded." Midori answered short and simple. Yamato couldn't help but feel rage. Although they are the enemy, a child is just a child, and no child deserved such fate. Looking down to his brother, he noticed Takeru was shaking. He wanted to comfort him so bad, but the ropes restrained him of his duty as a brother. "Her Crest of Despair was destroyed." Midori continued on, "That means Devimon is no more."  
  
"Wha...what do you mean?" Yamato asked.  
  
"If our crests are destroyed, so are our digimon."  
  
"Then that means that Devimon won't bother us anymore?" Takeru softly asked his brother, a part of him happy about the prospect.  
  
"I guess so...one less virus..." Yamato answered, not to anyone particular really.  
  
"What do you mean by that?!" Midori snapped at the tall blonde, taking in insult by the remark.  
  
**Smooth move Yamato...** Wha...? Who said that?! It voice sounded very familiar, like the one from his dreams. "I, didn't mean anything but..."  
  
"But nothing!" She sharply cut him off, her crest glowing ever so slightly, "Does being Viruses mean they have to die? Just because we're on opposite sides does not mean we are evil!" Her anger was clearly in her voice, she let herself explode in rage, fists clenched, "Don't we have the same right to fight for what we believe in?! Our digimon are just as loyal to us as yours are to you! We care for them as our partners and our friends..." She stopped her speech, letting her anger subside. Her fists relaxed, breathing in and out to calm her fast beating heart.  
  
"I...I'm sorry..." Yamato said with eyes closed. He pushed all his remorse in those words, sincerity screaming from them.  
  
Midori caught their meaning, "So am I. I didn't mean to yell at you like that."  
  
In the back of a bush, Asato crouched behind it. He had a solemn expression on his face. Midori...  
----------------------------------------------------  
"They're right over that ridge." Patamon reported, "And T.K. and Matt are there."  
  
"All right, we'll move out when I give the signal. Everyone! Digivolve to your highest forms." Taichi ordered to the digimon. He turned his eyes towards the ridge. We'll save you guys, T.K., Matt...  
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"I would never have guessed you would find out about me." The man poured tea into the three cups, slowly making his round around the table. "You continue to surprise me even when I'm 'dead'." Next to poured juice into two bowls for the thirsty seal and insect digimon.  
  
Koushiro was nervous. He was determined to find Gennai but, he never thought of what he would do when they actually met, "Uhh...Mr. Gainsburg..."  
  
"Call me Gennai." The man stated. Koushiro looked up, a little surprised. "We're both used to that right?"  
  
"'Gennai'..." Seeing Koushiro's shyness, Jyou decided to start the conversation, and the question both of them wanted answered, "How...why were you in Digiworld...I mean, all this time, you were..." But Jyou couldn't find the right words either.  
  
"...Let me tell you a story." Gennai took a sip from his cup, "The very first 'Destined', you could say... There were five of them. One of them was my daughter. At that time, the Real World and Digiworld were time synchronized. I was devastated when I found she was missing. But one day, I had gotten an e-mail. It was from her. Luckily, she had her computer with her, like you Izzy." He nodded to the boy, eyes connecting in that split second. "I wanted to help her, fighting the evil. I was able to access the program for the Digital World and created a persona whom we all know as 'Gennai'. I made it up as a digimon but didn't have the resources to add attributes to it. I could see the Digiworld vividly because of this."  
  
"They were successful weren't they? In beating the evil I mean." Jyou asked in anticipation.  
  
"Yes. After beating it, time went faster in the Digiworld. But another problem came up. Piedmon created the Darkdestined, picking digimon partners personally. He himself made himself a partner. I believe it was with the Keeper of Darkness. That suits him all right. Long before that time, I found out that my daughter and the others would constantly be sent to the Digiworld if any danger arose. I didn't want my daughter to get involved, so I decided to create the Digidestined. Have someone else take on the...burden. But my daughter...she wanted to go back. That was the last time I saw her in the Real World."  
  
"What do you mean?..." Jyou was almost afraid to ask.  
  
"A digimon that no one, not even Piedmon heard of appeared from the power of one of the Dark Crests. I would never forget her. Long black hair, scars covering almost her entire body. She was completely dressed in black, holding a giant weapon like her name...the angel of death, Scythemon."  
  
"I remember hearing about her." Tentomon buzzed, taking a brake from his drink, "A Virus-type digimon. No other other information exists about her."  
  
"That's because anyone who got to know her wound up dead. When she showed up, there were always one missing from the Darkdestined. Piedmon took a liking to her and unleashed her fury to the five children...only two survived..." He closed his eyes, as if replaying that fateful day, "She was eleven years old. She was cut into eleven pieces. I can still remember the image of her lying there. Her eye was wide open; the other was somewhere else on the field..."  
  
Koushiro's eyes were wide open. A horrible way to die...  
  
"All I have of her is this picture." He took out his wallet, and opened to the girl that lived to short. But an uncanny resemblance made Koushiro take a gasp. She had short, dark, reddish hair, a short height from the looks of it. She had ash black eyes and a laptop by her side. "If she was still alive, you two could have been twins." Gennai smiled at the teary-eyed boy. "Maybe that's why I took a liking to you. You are so much like her." Koushiro couldn't help but turn his cheek a faint crimson from the greatest compliment he had ever gotten.  
  
"I didn't want this tragedy to occur again. That's why I stayed and guided all of you. To save my daughter through you, I guess."  
  
"I...I don't know what to say..." Koushiro finally broke his silence.  
  
"Remember the message from the disk I left." Gennai noved quickly to the present, not wanting to dwell in the past anymore, "Their Crests are the lives of their digimon. Destroy them, then the digimon will be no more. But the better thing to do would be to make their crests useless. Let them turn their attributes around." His eyes returned to the small boy, "I appreciate you coming here, but your friends need you. Don't worry about me. We still have e-mail don't we?" Koushiro smiled a little, but his mind raced with the tragic story. Looking into his friend's eyes, the pain of that day still plagued his heart.   
  
Finishing their drinks, the four were ready to go. "Gennai?" The man turned to the small boy. "I came to make sure you were alive. That you didn't' die for nothing. To thank you for all that you've done...To know that I didn't fail you."  
  
Gennai just stared at the boy, surprised a bit by his words, "I'll always be there to guide you Izzy. Like a father..." The childless father encouraged the parentless child.  
  
Koushiro dropped a tear, and left with Jyou and the digimon. His mind was clear, but is heart was heavy. I'll make her pay for what she's done to you...  
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"TERRA FORCE!" WarGreymon tackled the giant MachineDramon, slicing through the chords on his back. Digivolving once more, MetalSeaDramon and MetalEtamon preoccupied the giant Garudamon and Angewomon at the lake. Liliymon played Hide-and-Destroy with Puppetmon in the dense forest. With T.K. and Yamato set free, HolyAngemon and MetalGarurumon were reborn to take on VenomMyotismon. The Darkdestined didn't anticipate the attack and were severely damaged.   
  
All we gotta do is wait for that angel to use his attack... Itami his in the shadows of the forest, waiting for the opportunity to summon his digimon.  
  
"Midori~!" Asato screamed her name, missing since a Horn Buster striked the middle of the camp. He frantically searched for her, hoping that the blast didn't...  
  
"Midori~!" Another boy was calling out her name. Yamato searched the grounds, leaving T.K. with Mimi and Hikari. He had to find her; the voice pleaded with him. Even his heart told him to search for her, feeling his soul depended on it. But who he came across was not the he wanted.  
  
"You?!" Asato glared at the blonde, remembering how Midori had warmed up to him, "What did you do with her?..." His hands formed tight fists, ready for combat.  
  
"Funny," Yamato smirked, "I was gonna ask you the same thing." He raised his fists, "I owe you one for that sucker punch."  
  
With that, the two boys charged, both landing their fists in each other's faces. Asato wrapped his leg around Yamato's and tripped him backwards to the ground. He straddled upon the boy's stomach, and pummelled the blonde's face, "Who do you think you are, huh?! You have no right to take her away from me!" Yamato felt his eyebrow cut as blood trickled down his face. He grabbed the two flying fists by the wrists and pulled him down. With all his might, Yamato focused all his energy on to his upper body and he buttheaded Asato right in the forehead.   
  
The boy fell down to his side, wincing from the pain. Yamato wasn't finished. He took Asato by the collar, "The only reason I'm not beating you to a pulp is because she cares about you..." Asato froze by the blonde's words, "Although I don't know why she would bother."  
  
She does care?... "Did she tell you?" Asato questioned. He didn't understand why she would tell him of all people, why the enemy.  
  
"Matt!" Yamato looked up to the source of the call. Taichi ran towards him, the scene of the battle of the digimon blazing behind him.  
  
"Tai!" He let his attention slip to the wilder haired boy. Asato used the diversion to his advantage and flipped Yamato to his back.  
  
Asato started to get up and run but a brilliant light blinded his way, along with Taichi and Yamato.  
  
Up above, HolyAngemon unsheathed his shining sword, preparing for his grand attack. Itami emerged from his hiding, waiting for the angel to utter the words to his power. "GATE OF DESTINY!"  
  
In one swift motion, the gateway to another world opened its golden doors. The opening created a vacuum, sending loose debris to the other side. Any attack that was made by the digimon was sucked into the black hole and smaller digimon grasped what ever they could to avoid being sucked in.  
  
Itami took his chance; he removed his tag from around his neck and held it towards the gate, "Crest of Darkness! Bring my partner! Bring back the darkest of all digimon!" Pure black light released equally black lightning towards the gate. The negative energy flooded the symbols on the gate and infected it with a virus. Slowly the gate turned black, and the suction reversed its direction. The gate blew away its contents, including the attacks made by the digimon. Energy blasts scattered all around the field, both sides taking cover. But through the blasts, an all too familiar laugh echoed out of the doorway.  
  
The laughter became louder, and closer until... "HA HA HAH! I'M BACK!!" Piedmon made a triumphant entrance, still regal as ever. Behind him, the gate disappeared into thin air. "It's so nice to be back." His red eyes surveyed the battle around him, "I see you all started the party without me." A stain of red near the lake caught his eye, "And the stage is set..."  
  
"Piedmon!" Itami called for his digimon, "It's about time you showed up!" The dark clown floated down beside his human counterpart. He unsheathed one of his swords and handed it to Itami.  
  
"You know what to do." Piedmon made a wicked smirk as the silver boy nodded. Piedmon then turned his attention to the Digidestined, "My my, we really must do something with pest control."  
  
"Piedmon!" Asato ran towards the creator of the Darkdestined, "We've got a problem. Gabrielle is dead." He pointed to the body swimming in its own blood. Piedmon made no expression of remorse. Instead, he smiled at the sight. "What are you smiling about?..."  
  
"AAARRGHH~!" A blood curtling scream seized all the humans' attentions. Alexander was the one to bellow in pain. Before he fell to the floor, a swift swing cleanly beheaded the falling boy. Mimi and Emilia were the ones to scream from the scene the loudest. All the digimon stopped their battles, taking in the murder. Itami led the bloody sword to his side, took the dead boy's crest, and crushed it under his foot. Another shrill echoed the last one; this one from the fading Metal Etamon.   
  
"ITAMI!" Asato raged after him. He recognized the sword hanging from the boy's hand, "Piedmon! What is the meaning of this?!"  
  
Piedmon let the smirk become a laugh, "Why, it's a sacrifice. You better watch your back Asato, or you'll be next."  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?!" His fists tightened with every beat of his heart. Another scream rushed through his ears. Turning in the direction Dana had fallen by the blade of Itami. The sword cut through her arm and waist, splitting her into four parts. Pointing the sword down, he stabbed through her crest to her heart, and another wailing of pain from MetalSeaDramon silenced forever. The air was being polluted by the data of fading Viruses, and more were to join them. From afar, Itami held the image of an Angel of Death. What the hell is going on?! Asato couldn't believe the massacre occuring.   
  
MachineDramon and Puppetmon took to Hamilton and Emilia's side to defend them from Itami's warpath. "A little help here Piedmon!" he called for his partner. Piedmon flew over to him, faced his ex-Dark Masters.   
  
With two words, "CLOWN TRICK!!", the giant and the midget were thrown back halfway across the field. "TRUMP SWORD!" Two blades ripped through the two siblings chests, shattering their crests. MachineDramon and Puppetmon joined their human partners to the realm of Hades.  
  
Itami cackled at the image, letting his guard down. His laugh was cut short by a blur of a hand crunching his face. He fell to the ground, dropping the sword behind to clench the pain of his cheek. Midori stood in front of him, her arm outstretched with a fist formed at the end, "YOU BASTARD!! How could you!" Her crest glowed the same blue like the time when she and Yamato were falling to their deaths from a cliff. She picked up the blood-drenched sword and pointed it to Itami's face, "...how could you..." She pulled back the sword, ready to charge with all her strength. Itami just smirked at the hateful expression on her face, which only fuelled her anger. She charged a step forward only to be held back Piedmon's massive grip. The sword fell to the ground, and wrapped his arms around the struggling girl. Asato, seeing her predicament, raced before Piedmon.  
  
"I'm sorry my dear, but I need him alive." He leaned in closer to her ear, so only she could hear him, "And I need you alive as well, my love." The last remark bewildered Midori, the meaning of it unknown to her.  
  
"METAL WOLF CLAW!!" The ice beam directly hit Piedmon on the back, losing his grip on his prize. Asato took the opportunity to grab Midori and call for his digimon. Yamato, riding on MetalGarurumon, kept the clown busy for the two to escape. The rest of the Digidestined's digimon all fired their attacks. The metal wolf took off at the last moment to evade his friends' attacks, knocking out the dark clown.  
  
VenomMyotismon reverted to his Ultimate form and carried his partner and Midori in his arms. MetalGarurumon flew beside them on Yamato's orders, "Follow me you guys."  
  
"You?!" Asato was equally disgusted as Myotismon, "Do you think I would trust a Digidestined?"  
  
"You have no choice at the moment! You're whole group's been slaughtered and you two will be next!" Yamato didn't know why he was doing this, but the voice in his head kept telling him to be with the girl. That everything depended on her. He didn't know what it meant, but he had a liking to Midori, and owes her for his life.  
  
"Asato...just go with him..." Midori muttered softly. Asato looked at her with a despondent face that spoke for his heart. He nodded slowly and ordered his digimon.  
  
"Me trusting a Digidestined," Myotismon couldn't believe the moment, "...can it get any more disgusting..."  
  
"Matt!" The blonde looked down to his friends below. Taichi called for a regrouping, "We'll meet beyond that ridge!" All the digimon held their respective partners and withdraw from the site.  
  
Itami and Piedmon regained their stability on their feet, and watched the digimon disappear. "Aren't we gonna go after them?!" Itami demanded.  
  
"Patients. We'll get our chance." And then, I will get her back. "Besides," he wiped his swords on a fallen Destined, and sheathed it back, "they'll will be doing the work for us." The manic clown's smile returned. Everything is as planned.  
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Even I was surprised by how this turned up. I haven't really mentioned the other Digidestined that much cause they're not the main focus. So expect the cast to dwindle down to a few. A big THANK YOU for those who supported my fic(s) and I appreciate your readership. For those who just read this, READ THE REST!! I mean, isn't it confusing if you don't? (Even though it would still be confusing if you did.^_^)   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Friendship...

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. If I did, I wouldn't have let Saban shred it to pieces in the editing room. WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?!?! :(  
  
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"Crests of Destiny"  
By Cloud Ishida  
  
~Chapter 6-Friendship...~  
  
  
"We don't need help from some immature brats!" Asato yelled in frustration. The children arrived at Gennai's old house that used to be hidden in a lake. The Dark Master's reconfiguration caused the house to be exposed by the stripping of the lake water. The digimon, in their Rookie forms, collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. Midori sat away from the argument between Asato and their leader, Taichi.   
  
Her mind was filled with the images that had taken place earlier that day. Bodies dismembered everywhere, and Itami taking delight in his work. What was more disturbing, were Piedmon's last words. ["And I need you alive as well, my love."] 'My love'...why did he say that?  
  
"Midori?" The blonde who saved her approached in silent steps. She didn't meet his eyes, nor move an inch of her body. "Midori...are you alright?" Alright?! Of course not you idiot! She just saw her friends being slaughtered in front of her eyes! he criticized to himself. But Yamato couldn't think of anything else to say. Sitting beside her, he let his hand reach out to embrace her from her sorrow, offering a shoulder to cry on.  
  
"...what are you doing?" she questioned with a puzzled look.  
  
He whipped his hand back, "I, just thought that...you know, needed comforting..." His blue eyes scanned her face. The scars were still there, the one on her eye reminding him of her saving his life. Strangely, her face didn't speak of emotion, not even fear. She held a cool composure since being rescued. He at least expected a tear.  
  
Midori could feel his eyes scrutinize every part of her face. She leaned back to the boulder she sat near and closed her weary eyes, "If you're waiting for me to cry then you'll be waiting for a very long time. I hate crying." Yamato was a bit shocked by her words, and sounded all too familiar. "...it just shows how weak you are..."  
  
Yamato was about to say another word when they sky turned to a kaleidoscope of grey and purple. The clouds swirled into one circle and from it a pillar of light penetrated through. After a few seconds, the light returned back to the sky and returns the atmosphere to a cerulean blue. In the middle of the group, Koushiro, Jyou, Tentomon and Gomamon stood in the light's place. "Whew, we made it back!" said a relieved Jyou.  
  
"How did it go guys, did you find him?" Sora asked before anyone could.  
  
"We did." Koushiro simply stated. The others except Yamato gathered around the tired four, asking questions of "what was he like?" and "is he okay?" Koushiro didn't say much though; Jyou and the their digimon answered for him. The little boy was busy taking in the three new figures hanging around. Myotismon was the most obvious character that didn't belong with the Digidestined. He hid in shadows of a couple of trees. The other, a brown haired boy, like the one he saw when they battled the Darkdestined stood with arms crossed. He didn't look Koushiro's way, rather, at the third character and Yamato.  
  
Beside the blonde, a girl, with long black hair and some scars on her face. Her eyes were closed, muttering something to Yamato. But something about her... the boy genius thought. Her description seemed very familiar.  
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"We can just end it all if we just go after them!" Itami still argued with his superior digimon. They were still at the lakeshore, taking in the bloody view of the sacrifices they made.  
  
"We don't need to do anything," Piedmon's patience with his human partner was wearing thin, "the Digidestined will do a better job anyway."  
  
"I don't want to wait any longer! I want that power you promised me!" The boy took hold of Piedmon's arm and pulled him to meet his eyes.  
  
Piedmon wasn't very happy, but made a smile to hide his detest, "Oh you will...you will get *exactly* what you deserve..."  
----------------------------------------------------  
"...So that's what happened." Jyou adjusted his glasses, not knowing how to react to the events that occurred in their absences. Yamato was with the group; Asato had taken his place beside Midori. But the Darkdestined had no luck in comforting his comrade either. Myotismon had joined them, withstanding the pain of the sun for his friend. "Then, what should we do now?"  
  
Hikari pulled on her brother's shirt, "Tai, maybe we should go back home."  
  
Taichi kneeled down to meet his sister at eye level, "I know your scared Kari but..."  
  
She shook her head, "I don't mean that. I mean, if he wanted to, Piedmon could have just killed us but he didn't."  
  
"She has a point." Sora thought back to the massacre, "Even that psycho kid was aiming for his own 'friends'."  
  
"If we brought them back with us," Hikari pointed to the three hunched figures, "then wouldn't they be safe? At least for a little while?" Taichi weighed the option. It did seem as if the Darkdestined were the targets. But why would Piedmon kill his own?   
  
"I agree with Kari." The group turned around to Yamato. He was busy staring a hole into his shoes, "Until we know exactly what his intentions are."  
  
Slowly but surely, the others agreed to the plan. "We'll let you talk to them Matt." Taichi patted his friend's back, giving his trademark grin.  
  
"Me?! W-Why me?" Yamato stuttered.  
  
"Cause you've been with them a lot longer...and I think she likes you." Taichi soflty snickered. The others smiled at the sight of the blonde's cheeks turn a light shade of pink.   
  
"I have no idea what you're talking about..." Yamato took shelter in his Mr. Cool pose and turned his eyes to the three sitting across from him, "...but I guess I should." He slowly walked over, feeling the eyes of his friends and digimon staring him down. Gabumon joined him at his side, somehow noticing his human partner's bashfulness. Yamato was glad to have him around, especially at this moment. Did he blush because he likes her? Of just the thought of it... He was confused with his feelings and he wasn't about to share them any time soon.  
  
His shadow fell upon Asato, who turned to him, "What do you want?" he asked in an irritable reply.   
  
"We think you should all go back to the Real World. Obviously, Piedmon and Itami have their sights set on you all." He meant to warn the group, but his eyes fell on Midori. **Protect her...** Huh? Yamato blinked in response to the voice. Why does it always come back...Is Midori the one I'm suppose to protect?...  
  
Asato considered the option. He didn't want to admit it but he did need help. Why Piedmon would attack, he couldn't understand. The last time that such a massacre occurred was with the original Destined...and that digimon of death. "Midori, what do you think?"  
  
Her face was still emotionless, staring out at the empty lake, "Fine, whatever."   
  
Asato didn't like the idea but he had no choice. He assumed if they didn't want to go they would be forced to. After all, one digimon against eight weren't good odds. Go back...go back to what? Going back meant more ridicule that he had tried so hard to forget. More names at him for his appearance, but to stay alive, it was the logical choice. He took a deep sigh, and reluctantly replied, "Alright. Myotismon, I think you should de-evolve back to Wingmon. I'll carry you." The vampire complied and shrunk from the seven-foot giant to a one-foot bat.  
  
"Hello, I'm Gabumon. I'm Matt's friend." The reptilian wolf grinned while standing in front of Midori. She couldn't help but stare back at his crimson eyes. Capturing the sight of his precious-stripped fur, she reached out halfway, waiting for permission. Gabumon stepped closer and lowered his head to say yes.   
  
Midori carefully stroked the glistening fur and her lips curled up with each touch. "I'm Midori."  
  
"Well, it is nice to meet you Midori." Gabumon let out his paw; Midori stopped her petting session and shook hands with the gentle digimon. Yamato watched them interact. Simple words and a touch brought out a smile in the stone face. Thanks Gabumon. He was proud to have him as his digimon.  
  
"But I don't want to go back home." She said as Gabumon purred from her docile strokes.   
  
"As do I." Asato added. Yamato didn't quite understand, but he had to make them feel safe in order for them to return.  
  
"Okay, then it's settled." He and Gabumon led the three to the rest of the group. Yamato announced their agreements and Koushiro made the arrangement on his computer.   
  
**Ask her to stay with you...** The voice came back. Yamato hesitated by the proposal. Should I?...She wouldn't agree... would she? "Midori, would you like to stay with me?"  
  
The other kids turned their attention to the two in anticipation. Asato slanted his eyes, jealousy rising exponentially. Midori was shocked herself, and was at a loss of words, "I...um...alright."  
  
"Then I guess I'll be staying with you too." Asato leaned down on Yamato so only the two can hear, "...and I'll be taking a very close watch..."  
  
"Wait." Jyou separated the two rivals and waited until he got Asato's attention, "Just to be safe, I think it would be a good idea if you both split up." The face the green-eyed boy made could have killed twenty Devimons. Jyou squirmed by the look.  
  
"You can stay with us." Taichi chimed in to save Jyou in his uncomfortable situation.  
  
"You guys, the programs ready." Koushiro interrupted as he finished typing the last set of codes. The sky did its dance again only with eight bright colours and two dim strays of light.  
-------------------------------------------------------  
Piedmon's eyes shimmered by the light of the pillar. Soon my love, I will have you back... The light disappeared all too soon, leaving an anxious clown to ponder how to greet his angel of death.  
-------------------------------------------------------  
"I know it isn't much, but it's home." Yamato led Midori and Gabumon to his room where it looked like a hurricane ran through it, "Sorry about the mess. When you're out saving two worlds it's hard to keep up with chores." Midori grinned at the remark. Yamato went around his room, picking clothes, socks and the unexpected finds of underwear making him blush in extreme red.   
  
Her eyes glanced around the room. The walls were bare, except for a few cracks here and there. Most weren't made by the natural aging of buildings, but put there by human hands like fists. Underneath the clothing, music sheets carpeted the floorboard and masked his simple desk. Over his drawer hung a mirror on the wall. Midori smiled at the photographs that framed the small mirror. Images of his brother outlined the circular reflector, and one image of the whole family that was.  
  
"Would you like anything to eat?" Yamato placed the last of his clothes into the top drawer, not bothering to fold them in place. Midori politely declined the offer, but the growl in her stomach told either wise. "C'mon, I'll cook up something." She and Gabumon followed to the kitchen, and were seated at the dining table. Gabumon, having been at his place before, found the controller and turned on the television. He flipped through the channels five times before Yamato scolded him to leave it on any damn channel. Gabumon whimpered from the censure and Yamato gave him ice cream as an apology for his outburst. Midori giggled from the two's interaction. The wolf digimon reverted to his cheerful self and licked the chocolate-mint flavour in no time.   
  
Midori peeked into kitchen to see Yamato chopping and dicing up a storm, "You really don't have to cook me anything."   
  
"It's no trouble. I cook all the time." His back was turned to Midori. He missed the smile that would have illuminated the world.  
------------------------------------------------------   
"You can stay in Taichi's room, if it isn't too much of a toxic waste dump." Mrs. Yagami offered Asato a full dinner course.   
  
"Thank you very much Mrs. Yagami. But the sofa would be alright. I don't want to impose." Asato made a deep bow and graciously accepted the tea. Taichi wondered in amazement as how the bratty, selfish-bastard could be so polite.  
  
"It's alright. You can have my bunk bed. I can sleep with my parents for a while." Hikari offered.  
  
Mr. Yagami patted his son an ovation, "I hate to admit it but I was worried that you might lose that battle son."  
  
"Hey dad, it's not just us that kicked that Apoclymon's butt. Agumon and the others did all the work." Taichi nudged the yellow dinosaur, stuffing his face full of rice and noodles. Gatomon stared at his gluttony, while she carefully nibbled on her fish. Wingmon rested upside-down on the roof, sleeping away his weariness.  
  
"If I may, could I use your phone please?" Asato asked, barely touching his food. "I just want to make sure of something."  
  
"Of course."  
  
The green eyes shifted to the boy fighting over the last piece of sweet potato tempura with Agumon, "Taichi-san, could you help me with a phone number?"   
  
'Taichi-san'? What happened to all those colourful four letter words? "Uh, sure."  
-----------------------------------------------------  
"Ta-da!" Yamato placed the dish on the middle of the table, "It's the special order of extra hot and spicy vegetable fried rice with extra hot sauce, just as you requested."  
  
"It looks great!" She took in a spoonful of the red laced spice, "And it tastes wonderful! Are there any other talents you're hiding from me?" Gabumon took another spoon and gulped down a mouthful. His eyes began to water from intense flames rushing to be set free turning his Blue Blaster into a Red Blaster.   
  
It was Yamato's turn to try his newest creation. He examined the flavour with his tongue and swallowed with ease, "Hmm...a bit hot. But, not bad." He got no answer from Midori as she was devouring the food. "I'm glad you really like my cooking."  
  
Her cheeks turned to a slight shade of pink, "Sorry, I didn't mean to pig out like that..."  
  
"Remember me hogging all the fish? It's a way for me to pay you back for your generosity." He watched her eat every bite, savouring every flavour. Her stone cold exterior melted away leaving a shy and gentle girl. "I'm gonna go take a shower. I haven't had one since going back to the Digiworld. You need anything?"  
  
She licked the spoon clean and received an apple offered by Gabumon, "You have some pen and..." The phone interrupted her.   
Yamato answered by the third ring and was greeted with a less than grandeur greeting, "You better have done nothing to her!"  
  
"What kind of sick person do you think I am?" Yamato sneered over the phone, "How did you get this number anyway?"  
  
"Forget that, let me talk to Midori."  
  
The blonde made a face at the speaker, "You could say please ya know..." he whispered. "Midori, it's Asato." She quickly answered the phone, and Yamato sat with Gabumon. "He's starting to really annoy me."  
  
"I'm fine Asato; you don't have to worry." Midori tried to ease the boy's anxieties but more worries and complaints greeted every effort.  
----------------------------------------------------  
"Yamato, save her to save yourself."  
  
"Why do you keep telling me these things?!" He returned to the dark atmosphere.  
  
"This is why you were urged to stay in the Digital World. The Digidestined's mission is over, but you still have one left. Take Courage and declare Friendships you refused to see. She is the key."  
  
"What does that mean?" But Yamato's shadow world faded with the dawning of the sun.  
----------------------------------------------------   
The next day was a day of fun. Mr. Ishida had gone out early for a report and left money for Yamato to entertain his friend. Gabumon stayed at his place since a digital monster walking on the street may arouse a bit of suspicion. Yamato took Midori out on the town in an effort to make her happy and to buy a frame for a picture she drew. The vision came again for him the night before. It was the same one he had since beating Apoclymon. The voice told him to show "her" his true meaning of his crest. He didn't know exactly what it meant but it urged him to be with her. "Thanks, for helping me get my mind off things." Midori played with her sundae's cherry as the ice cream melted slowly by the sun's rays through the cafe window.  
  
"You looked like you needed some time off." He scooped up the last of his chocolate-mint ice cream and let it melt in his mouth. Looking over to her serving, she hadn't eaten even half, "You don't like it?"  
  
"Huh?" She broke from her daze, "No, no...I was just preoccupied with stuff."  
  
"Want to talk about it?"  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
"C'mon, don't hold things all bottled up." Yamato reflected back to when Gabumon helped him in his self-crisis, "Sooner or later it'd blow up right in front of your face."  
  
"Really, it's okay." She tried so hard to smile but only came up with a twitch.  
  
Yamato shifted his head to meet her eyes, "That face doesn't say it's 'okay'."  
  
She took a deep sigh, knowing he would keep asking until she confessed. But he didn't need to know the whole truth... "When Piedmon caught me, he said something that was the last thing I thought I would ever hear." Midori left placed her spoon down, letting the frozen sweet turn to cream. "He said he needed me alive...and called me his 'love'..."  
  
Yamato's jaw dropped like a rock, "His what? Why didn't you tell me...I mean us earlier?" She didn't answer him, and turned to stare at the world outside the window. Piedmon's words perpetually flowed through her mind, a hint of nostalgia ringing from them. "Midori?..." Her stone face returned to conceal her deep brown eyes. "C'mon, the day's too young to be sulking."  
  
He took her to the zoo and her face lit up like a light bulb. Once again her worries were forgotten but Yamato had a harder time. Why does Piedmon want her?... It just doesn't make any sense. At the souvenir shop, he bought her a necklace that had caught her eye the whole time she was at the store. It was a pendent made from pewter stone. Engraved on it was the Chinese character for Friendship. (Cloud: I actually have this for real! ^_^)  
  
Returning back to his apartment, they were greeted by a hyperactive Gabumon who apparently raided the sweets cupboard. Midori welcomed the warm gesture; she welcomed Yamato's company. She felt needed and glad to know that he appreciates having her around. He made her feel important, and her thoughts mattered. He showed the lighter side of life as well as his. He was the first one that she ever showed her drawings openly and with acclaimed reviews. The drawing of her and Yamato that the blonde thought was amazing was placed in their newly bought frame. He was the Friend she was waiting for. She wore the pendent proudly to the world. The Crest of Loneliness lost its ever-present glow.  
----------------------------------------------------  
"So how is the Digiworld coming along?" Itami surveyed the landscape, seeing the chaos ensue the land.  
  
"Rather well. Fear, Ignorance, Deceit, Doubt and Despair are spreading like wildfire. A job well done destroying the crests." Piedmon praised his young protege. "Are you ready for your trip?"  
  
"Anytime." Sword in hand, Itami's digivice started to glow.  
----------------------------------------------------  
Tentomon jumped by the sudden beeping of the pineapple laptop. Woke from his short nap to answer the sudden alarm. Urgency was written all over the e-mail that was sent by, "Gennai..."   
  
-Izzy,  
I received your request for a picture of Scythemon, but the only one I could find is of very poor quality. But I hope it helps you in any way possible.  
-Gennai  
  
The image attached to the mail made the boy's eyes his eyes pop out. The long, flowing black hair, right eye black as coal. But the left eye in particular had a scar over it, with an intense blood red eye. Another scar etched into her cheek. He had seen this person before. Koushiro called the others to a meeting while he proceeded to print the picture.  
=============================================================================================================================  
Another boring chapter but a necessary one. Confused by what Piedmon and Itami were talking about with the crests? In this digital universe, a crest holds an attribute of the digital world. If one is broken, like the crest of fear, then digimon or whatever has their fear amplified. Confusing? I know. Next chapter is the turning point and again, rated R for blood. Violent aren't I? I'm uploading this and Ch. 7 on the same day so don't miss it! Till next chapter, 2-da-loo! ~_^  
  
  



	7. ...and Betrayal

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon then the first season would have ended very differently. Me don't own Digimon. Me never will. How sad:(   
  
Author's Note: Blood and guts alert people!! Considering I'm in a bad mood right now, it'll probably turn into a slash-fest.  
The chapter title is connected to ch. 6's. Of course, who really cares about that right?  
=============================================================================================================================  
"Crests of Destiny"  
By Cloud Ishida  
  
~Chapter 7- ...and Betrayal~  
  
  
"All right Izzy, I'll come right over." Taichi hanged up the phone and call for his sister to join him in the meeting. "Izzy said you could come too...if you want."  
  
Asato considered the offer, "Will Midori be there?"  
  
Taichi shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. Matt's coming though."   
  
"Well what are we waiting for?" Asato marched out of the door with Wingmon resting on his shoulder.  
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"I don't see why Izzy won't let you come with us." Yamato and Tsunomon, de-evolved for carrying convenience, arrived to Koushiro's apartment. "If you need anything, we'll be at the fifth floor, number 542."  
  
"Don't worry about me. I need some fresh air anyway." Midori waved the two good-byes and headed for the park.  
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"Where's Midori?" was the first thing Asato blurted out when Yamato came in.  
  
"Good we're all here." Koushiro didn't let Yamato answer. "First off, you all remember what I've told you about Gennai's daughter." Everyone but Asato slowly nodded his or her heads. "Now, look at this." He passed the picture he printed out last night around the group.  
  
Asato was the last to glimpse the image and instantly recognized the image, "...where did you get this?..."  
  
"I'm assuming you know who it is." he coolly acknowledged. "This image is of Scythemon, or should I say...Midori."  
  
"What?!" Yamato was stunned by the new revelation. "Are you joking?!"  
  
"I knew it! This was a trap to lure us here!" Asato exclaimed, calling on his digimon. "How could you know about her?"  
  
"So you do admit Midori's alter ego." Koushiro sneered at the flaring green eyes. "She is the one who killed Gennai's daughter!"  
  
"She killed to save me! Leomon, Centarumon, Pixiemon, Andromon, Parrotmon...they tried to kill us just because we were called the Darkdestined! Those bastards judged us before we even knew what the Digiworld was..." Asato clenched his fists, and narrowed his green eyes at the Digidestined. "If this is how you will play the game, then I'll play along." Wingmon perched on his arm and the children and digimon parted to let the boy through to the door.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?!" Taichi called out and was about to tackle him down when Yamato stopped him.   
  
"Let him go. He hasn't done anything...yet." The blonde turned his attention to Koushiro, "She isn't evil."  
  
"And what does this have to do with anything right now?" Mimi complained, as usual.  
  
"Apparently," the boy genius prepared his speech, "there were actually two sightings of her and at those times, Midori was not present. Both times were when the Darkdestined were losing, badly. And both times ended with someone dying."  
  
Jyou looked up from his textbook reading, "So there's a potential? Is that what you are saying?"  
  
"Exactly. Gennai doesn't exactly know how it happens, but she is dangerous. I think we should take her out, one way or another."  
--------------------------------------------------------  
It was a sunny morning at the park, sunlight scattering through the trees. Midori walked with a sense of calm. Perhaps she has finally found the friend that understood her...or will understand her.  
  
But a child's scream terminated the calmness. Unknowingly, she ran over to the origin of the continuing scream. Other witnesses stared on to the ground. There in the middle of four trees was a woman's body, what ever was left of it anyway. Midori froze by the image. It looked all too familiar. "Well, it's about time you showed up." The all too familiar voice echoed from the back. She slowly turned to face her former Darkdestined companion and her heart skipped a beat. "Surprised to see me?"  
  
"Itami?..." she didn't move after seeing him.  
  
"I don't know why Piedmon won't let me hack through you all, but he isn't here to protect you now." He raised his sword as the sun reflected its sharpness to the world and charged at the frozen girl.  
  
"Sonic Yell!" A wave of ultra-high pitched shriek sent Itami backward to one of the four trees while Midori was knocked to her side. "Midori! Asato's searching for you!"  
  
"Where is he Wingmon?!" She ran up to the black bat, glad to see a familiar face.   
  
"We split up to find you. Hurry, run before he's conscious!"  
  
"Too late!" A knife flew for Wingmon. He was slow to react to it but Midori was not. Wrapping her arms around the bat, she felt her stomach being pierced, blood rushing in to new territory. She grabbed the knife and pulled it out despite the pain.  
  
"Midori!" Wingmon screamed another Sonic Yell but this time, Itami had time to block it with Piedmon's sword. While the two battled, Midori slowly stood, and withstanding the pain, she headed to Koushiro's to warn her friends.  
-------------------------------------------------------  
The door was left unlock, and she enter the hallway in silence. Blood dripped from her wound, feeling her life fading away. "She killed Gennai's daughter!" Midori stopped at the edge of the wall that divided the hallway and living room. "We can't let her get away with that!" It sounded like Koushiro but his anger had mutated his voice into a monster's.  
  
"Izzy, don't let anger get to you. Revenge is not the answer, so is killing." This time, it was Jyou.  
  
"Well, if what you say is true, maybe we should keep an eye on her." Sora suggested.  
  
"You can't just lock Midori away!" Yamato yelled at his peers. Midori was surprised by Yamato's reaction, and shocked the meeting was about her.  
  
"I'm being logical here Matt. We don't know what triggers her to become Scythemon." Midori was caught off guard by the name, Where did I hear that name?... Koushiro continued, "What if she turned into that Virus and killed T.K.?" Takeru tightened his grip around Yamato's leg, and his older brother responded with a grimace. "And you said yourself Matt that Piedmon wants her alive. That should say it all."  
  
"And she did seem kinda out of it when the Darkdestined were killed." Taichi mentioned. "But, seeing your friends die would do that to you I would think."  
  
"But there is no doubt that she should be restrained. She could turn into her at anytime. Her potential to kill is too great." The others slowly agreed with the little boy, and Koushiro turned to the blonde boy, lost in his thoughts, "Matt, you've got to convince her to let us restrain her or something. Either way, we have to deal with her."  
  
Taichi caught a glimpse of sadness in Yamato's eyes, He doesn't want to hear this...   
  
What should I do?... The evidence was too great to dismiss; yet he didn't want to hurt Midori. Yamato thought of when that Scythemon would come to life. Did he really want people to suffer because of her? "...alright." He couldn't believe he said it. His feelings tore him apart. He wanted to protect her, but how could he protect a killer?   
  
Midori crest glowed ever so slightly.  
  
"What you've said does make sense..." With every word that left his lips, her crest grew brighter. Midori clenched it to avoid being detected. "Too many have died already..." As the crest grew brighter, her pain in her stomach diminished. "She is dangerous." Her lips curled to a smile, tears dropped to the floor. "We have to stop her." Her abdominal wound was gone, the crest at its height of illumination. She took off her stone pendent, the blood staining its string.   
  
Silently smiling, and with stealth she left the apartment.  
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"That idiot..." Piedmon sneered at the screen. How dare you hurt her?! But Itami's style did work. Midori was ready for the conversion and it was time that Piedmon pick up his prize. He snapped his fingers and a group of virus-type digimon appeared behind him.  
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"Crimson Lightning!" The bloody stream of light clashed with the sword. Asato arrived to help him digivolve but amazingly, Itami held his own against an Ultimate digimon. "You're really starting to annoy me..." Myotismon snarled.  
  
"Where us she?!" Asato tackled the silver boy, making him lose his grip on the sword and pinning him to the ground.  
  
"If I knew then I would have her head with me!" Itami shoved him to the side, with an elbow jab to the maroon coloured cheek. "Don't you worry; she wouldn't have gotten for with that wound." He cackled out loud to himself, a sound made only by a pure evil.   
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She tore her entire sketchbook to pieces, and removed any evidence that she was there at all. In her hand, she held the drawing of her and Yamato. The frame bought yesterday was no where in sight. Neatly and efficiently, she ripped the sketch in two, then fours, and eighths and so on until she couldn't rip anymore. All the slashed papers landed in the garbage can, and with the match that Mr. Ishida had left behind, burned away her drawings.   
  
From the corner of her eye, the photograph-framed mirror reflected her image. She walked up to it, still keeping her smile, still crying from the betrayal. Crying... "Why am I crying...Why do I have to be so damn weak?!" Her smile faded to clenched teeth and fists filling with rage. "What am I crying for?!..." Her crest illuminated the entire room and let her fist destroy the image she hated the most.  
  
Her hand was glazed in blood with glass puncturing at every corner. The mirror broke into a million pieces reflecting different images of the scar-faced girl. The Crest of Loneliness was alive, and as its life grew stronger, her bleeding stopped.  
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"What in the world?..." Jyou found the hallway smeared with blood.   
  
Takeru noticed something on the floor, stained with more blood. "Hey Izzy, is this yours?"  
  
Yamato looked down and gasped when he knew what it was. He knelt down slowly, carefully lifting the stone pendent. "Oh my god...she was here..."  
  
"Who was?" Taichi asked, concerned. Yamato wrapped his hands around the pendent, letting the blood stain them. "You don't mean..."  
  
"I gotta find her..." Yamato made a mad dash for the door, with Tsunomon bouncing behind.  
-------------------------------------------------------  
The trees crumbled from the rain of bats. Myotismon was finally able to restrain Itami with his Grisly Wing attack and let him hover in the air. "So, what shall we do with him?"  
  
Asato wiped the blood trickling down his chin and steadied the heavy sword, "How about we cut him down to size?" That was when swords appeared out of thin air. With little time to react, the swords found their target. Two swords pierced through the haze of bats drinking blood from Itami, and the third cleanly sliced through Asato's wrist. The sword and hand fell flatly on the grass. "YAAAAHHH~!!!" Asato screamed from the excruciating pain. Myotismon wrapped his cape around his human, embracing him in an attempt to ease the pain.  
  
"That is what you get for stealing my property Asato." Piedmon floated down with his digimon minions. "All of you, keep the Digidestined busy." An army of DeviDramon, flew in all directions, unleashing their fury upon the city. "Now, tell me where Midori is or I'll have to match the one arm with the other."  
  
"Piedmon!" All looked at the figure, illuminated by the light of the pendent. Midori's eyes were ice cold, fists shaking in anger.   
  
The stage is set... Piedmon licked his lips in anticipation of the final act. "So good of you to join us. Our Goddess of Death has finally arrived." Midori kept her cold trance. Piedmon made his way towards her, and she continued to walk on.  
  
"Mi..Midori...go...run! Get out of here!" Asato got no response from her. She acted as if the world was closed out from her. "Myotismon...go protect her..."  
  
"I can't leave you like this!" Myotismon protested.  
  
"Go! NOW!! If she dies then..." Asato trailed off. Myotismon didn't want to leave him, but he had to do what he was told. Letting his partner go, he flew between Midori and Piedmon.   
  
"You really think an Ultimate can defeat a Mega?" Piedmon sneered.  
  
"Who said I'm an Ultimate?" With that, Myotismon glowed in sync with Asato's digivice, "MYOTISMON, WARP DIGIVOLVE TO... VENOM MYOTISMON!" He grew to gigantic proportions and swatted away the DeviDramon like flies.  
  
Midori snapped out of her trance with the flash of the digivolution. "Asato?!" She ran over to her fallen comrade, "Oh my god! Asato, you'll be alright...I'll make it alright..." She held his other hand and wrapped the other around his body.  
  
"Midori..." His smile warmed her cold exterior.  
  
"This reunion is over!" Out of no where Itami raised one of Piedmon's swords and jumped down on the dazed couple. The sword sheathed through his heart, the Crest of Hate shattering to dust. The scream of VenomMyotismon shook the ground and disappeared to data. Itami stepped away in triumph.  
  
"ASATO!!!" Midori screamed to his face. He coughed up the warm blood and choked on the warm liquid.   
  
"Mi...dor...i.....Thank you...." She urged him to save his breath, but his lips kept moving, "You...were the only one...who liked me...despite my appearance....**ugh**" Blood splattered with every word. "You...were...my friend..." With that word, Midori's crest lost its glow. Her stomach started to hurt and her hand that was full of glass bled once more. "Be my...first kiss....my...love....."  
  
Midori's eyes widened by his words, tears dropping and mixing with his blood. She slowly bent down, letting her lips touch his blood-drenched lips, and kissed. A simple kiss conveying so much with such a small action. He let his green eyes close, his hand lost its grip in her hand. She looked down at his limp body, her expression void.   
  
Despair has shrouded her very soul.  
  
Fear of being alone struck her heart.  
  
Doubts about herself petrified her.  
  
Deceit from Itami devoured her into anger.  
  
Ignorance of Asato's love has brought her emptyness.  
  
Hate for this world turned her to stone.  
  
Loneliness is all she felt.  
  
Another pillar of light, unlike the teleportation columns, emerged from the Crest of Loneliness and consumed Midori. As the crest grew brighter, her hand and stomach healed once again.   
-------------------------------------------------  
Yamato entered his room, fearing to see Midori in tears. But all he got was...nothing. The room was spotless and the only evidence of the girl that stayed with him was the smell of smoke and a broken mirror. He walked towards the source of the smell to his garbage can. Burnt paper were covered with glasses from the mirror were soaked in water. One piece of shredded paper avoided its death by the fire. He picked it up and saw part of his portrait, slightly singed. Recognizing the source, he reached for the picture frame only to find it wasn't there anymore. On his desk, money was left behind. It seemed like the same amount as the missing picture frame. Beside it, the sketchbook she had given her... He opened it to see all her drawings were ripped out. Anything that reminded him of her was deleted from his room.  
  
Yamato threw the book to the ground. What have I done?... Tsunomon nuzzled at his leg.   
  
Outside, the sky started to become bright. Then, the building started to shake, as if it was an earthquake. He ran to his window to see streaks of red light destroying the city. Up above, DeviDramon attacked relentlessly a few moments Garudamon and two Angels unleashed their attacks on the dark dragons. But the source of the light that illuminated the sky was blue, and came from the middle of the park. Without thinking, he sprinted for the park.  
--------------------------------------------------   
The light continued its flow to the sky. Itami stared in bewilderment while Piedmon laughed in jubilation.  
  
A black hand pierced through the skin of the beam, laced in leather. The radiance of the blue illumination started to fade in to a strip of light. What stood in its place was not bright or cheerful. Black hair flowed with the last of the rays of light. The entire body was wrapped in black and dark navy-blue leather and silk. The only skin that showed through was the face with the scar on one cheek and another over the red eye. In one gloved hand, a giant silver scythe glistened in red from the destruction raining from the DeviDramon. The curved blade was half the size of the staff that supported it, and the staff was almost double the size of its master. The Crest of Loneliness kept an ever-present glow.  
  
"NO!! That power is MINE!" Itami shouted in rage.   
  
"How could you say that when it was never yours to begin with?" Piedmon calmly proclaimed. With a snap of his fingers, all his four swords returned to him. "You've outlived your usefulness."  
  
"What are you talking about?! I am the only one that should wield that power!" Itami ran after him, but the war cry of death stopped him in his tracks.  
  
Her shriek could be heard through the whole park as she sliced through Itami's shoulder to his waist, giving him no time to scream. He fell in two thumps on the already blood soaked grass. Piedmon smiled in accordance. "Mi.o..i." Itami uttered and lifted his trembling hand to her. The scarred face remained silent and empty. In response the dark figure silenced him forever. The giant blade made its way through his head in half, leaving the brain and other innards exposed. She slammed her heal down on his chest, destroying his crest. A puff of black smoke fizzled out of it.   
  
"How does it feel to be on the receiving end?" She coldly asked his lifeless body.   
  
"Lady Scythemon." Piedmon used his most chivalrous voice while kneeling on one knee and taking her hand to kiss it.  
  
"Piedmon." She responded simply. "This place bore's me." As if responding to her wish, the Crest of Loneliness created the pillar to the Digital World. Slowly, the two made their way home until one voice made her stop in her tracks.  
  
"Midori!" She didn't bother to turn for she knew who it was. Yamato stared at the figure before him. Beside him, the digivolved Gabumon stood with sad eyes. Both held their mouths from throwing up. The bodies that covered the ground didn't mix too well with their stomachs. Slowly, the dark female turned to meet his blue eyes. The blood dripped on rhythm from the scythe. All Yamato saw was the single tear released from her red eye. "I'm sorry..." was all he said.  
  
"Matt!!" Yamato turned to see Taichi and Koushiro run towards them with their Rookie digimon. "Matt, get away from there!!"  
He didn't listen and turned to see the two figures disappearing in the light and faded. Yamato stood there, motionless.   
"Midori...MIDORI~!!" The Crest of Friendship, in sync with the digivice summoned another pillar of radiant blue. Yamato slowly walked with Gabumon.   
  
"Matt!" Taichi grabbed him before the blonde could reach the gateway, "What do you think you're doing?!"  
  
"I'm going after her..."  
  
"You can't!! Look what she's done!" He pointed to the massacre in the park, "She'll kill you!"  
  
"He's right Matt." Koushiro took hold of Yamato's other arm. "It's best if we re-group and..."  
  
"SHUT UP! I abandoned her! I let her down..." His eyes clouded with mists of water forming, "I failed her... No matter what anyone says, I am going."  
  
The two boys released his arms and hung their heads. "Izzy," Taichi turned to the small boy, "You're in charge here. Stop the DeviDramon before they ruin the whole city."  
  
Koushiro was stunned, "But, what are you going to do?"  
  
"I'm going with Matt. With Piedmon around, two Megas are better than one." Taichi saw he was about to question his orders but hushed him before he could, "Just do it Izzy! There is no time to argue! The others need you...please..."  
  
Koushiro reluctantly nodded, and ran to the battlegrounds. What have I done?...  
  
"Are you ready?" Taichi asked.   
  
"No..." Yamato truthfully answered, and both drowned themselves in the light and faded.  
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Sorry for taking so long. School preparations and all...Speaking of school, I won't be able to write as often as I'd love to, so it's going to take some while for me to finish each chapter. I will finish this story though. Writing fics has become very therapeutic for me. It was supposed to have more blood but my crankiness started to fade near the end. To all those people who supported my fic, THANKS AGAIN! I was really surprised that people really like it. And reviews are always welcome, no matter how small. I was thinking of making a sequel to this story. Anyone interested? The Digimon Kaiser (Emperor) is becoming a fast favourite of mine so I was thinking doing one set in the 02 season. What do you think? Yama-chan will probably be the main character but it's not set in stone. Once again thanks and I'll try to write as often as I can. ^_~   
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Confession

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. No profit from this.  
  
Author's Note: Sorry for taking long but I finally found time from my hectic schedule. Still remember me people? The overly dramatic writer who exaggerates everything! Shall I start the main feature? ^_^  
  
WARNING!: Shounen ai (boyxboy love) hinting! Key word is HINTING people! It's on the border of friendship and affection for that special someone so if you don't like the same-gender love thing, then think they're just very good friends or, don't read it at all. It's small in this fic but people want warnings (even though some would read the fic anyway) and is very tame. Also, for those of you who don't know, shounen ai is "lighter" than yaoi in that it focuses on feelings/emotions (maybe you can call it courtship?) while yaoi often gets down right "physical" O.o The most you can get from shounen ai (or *should* get anyway) is kissing...and there aren't any of that between the boys in this one.   
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"Crests of Destiny"  
~Chapter 8-Confession~  
  
  
The Digital World seemed to be in a state of chaos when they arrived. Agumon and Gabumon smelled Fear and Hate in the air as digimon scurried from one another. Despair floated among the smaller digimon as the giant ones trampled everything in their way. Taichi observed through his mini-telescope to discover their location. Yamato just stood to witness the Digiworld falling apart. "What is going on here? We're gone for one day and the whole world is falling apart!" shouted Taichi through the explosions.   
  
"Something's not right here..." Yamato muttered.  
  
Taichi turned to face his friend, "EVERYTHING'S not right here! It's a damn war zone!"  
  
"That's not what I meant..." The blue eyes were closed shut and let his body feel the air, "The atmosphere doesn't feel right. Can't you feel it?"  
  
Taichi blinked, feeling Yamato was acting a bit unusual. But he let his body relax and let his mind roam free. He felt a small chill down his spine, the hair on his neck standing on end. The world is in trouble and he felt its pain. "We better go before those rampaging digimon uses us as targets." He grabbed Yamato's arm and headed for the tallest mountain they saw, Infinity Mountain.  
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"Finally we are back together again my love." Piedmon extended his hand to the dark girl aimlessly watching the world burning. "It has been too long."  
  
She tapped her finger on the tree she was leaning on and held the steady beat, "You killed them all." Piedmon retracted his hand and gulped nervously. "You killed them just so you could have me back..." She slowly turned her head to meet his red eyes, "How sweet." Piedmon exhaled in relief. "The only reason I not killing you at this moment is because of you're respect and loyalty to me."  
  
Piedmon smiled, "You haven't changed a bit my dear." He took her gloved hand and with one knee on the floor, kissed the hand gently.   
  
Scythemon shifted from her position. "They're here."  
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"You didn't have to come with me Tai." Yamato said in front of the fire. The four managed to find an empty cave to contemplate the state of things. Night was claiming the sky.   
  
"Hey, we're a team remember? What are friends for? And it's a good thing that I came along." Taichi watched through the opening, "I've never seen this world so bad before." He poked at the fire while his mind wandered to other matters. Actually, with only one question. Why was Yamato so concerned over Midori? Is he in love with her?... "Are you alright Matt?" Yamato didn't answer. He was too caught up in his own thoughts. "Can I ask you something?..." The blonde slowly nodded his head. "Before, when we were supposed to leave for good, why did you want to stay? Didn't you want to go home?"  
  
Yamato glanced at him for a moment, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. "I don't really know myself. There were so many reasons..." He pulled his legs in to his chest and rested his chin on them. The air was cool so Gabumon buried his fur in the blonde's body to keep him warm. Agumon nestled in Taichi's arms and took a light nap. Yamato looked down to see his digimon was asleep too and watched the fire dance.   
  
"Do, do you want to talk about it?" Taichi offered. Yamato sat still, not making a sound. The wild haired boy felt nervous by his silence.  
  
"I had these dreams." He glued his eyes to the fire while his words escaped his lips. "They started after I left you guys to find my path... There was this voice, and a silhouette that looked like me. It said, that my job wasn't done. Even after defeating Piedmon and Apoclymon, it said I still haven't found my path." Taichi leaned in to hear better. "It always said, someone was waiting for me and I was waiting for her. For me to be saved, I need to save 'her'." A tear dropped to the cave floor from the blue eye, "But I failed..."  
  
"Yamato, you haven't..." Taichi let his digimon lean on his back while he moved over next to Yamato. "You're not responsible for what she has become."  
  
"Is it really?..." The blonde didn't want to sound bitter but that was what Taichi heard. "I know how she feels. Being alone most of your life...that's what I wanted to avoid when we were to go back." Placing his hand on Yamato's shoulder, he remembered the discussion of staying in the Digiworld longer. Yamato was the first to propose it, and he was the most disappointed when Gennai said they couldn't stay. (Cloud: If you watch that segment of the last 01 episode, he looked the saddest, to me anyway) "If I were to go back," Yamato tilted his head to lie on Taichi's hand, "would there be anyone waiting for me? Will my friends of the Digiworld still treat me as one?... I was scared of that..."  
  
"Yamato," Taichi lifted his other hand to pull the curled up boy closer, "never worry your friends. We will always be there. And we're best friends aren't we?" Yamato laid in Taichi's arms as sleep started to invade his eyes. Best friends...really? Taichi let the blonde stay in his arms and breathed a sigh, "I'll always be there..." Yamato was off in his dream world and the leader of the Digidestined was the only one left to stand watch for the night.  
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"I am you. I am the reason why you have the Crest of Friendship." The dark figure invaded his dreams again.  
  
"What do you mean?" Yamato searched through the darkness and the figure let him come before him. A spotlight shined over the two. Yamato stared into the mirror image of his eyes. The untamed golden hair was reflecting his own. Clothing wrinkled the same way. He was staring at himself.   
  
But the lips moved on their own, "I am Friendship. The one you have forgotten so long ago. The one you thought you have forgotten." The mirror image lifted his green sweater to reveal a carving of a symbol on his chest. Where Yamato's tag would usually hang, the symbol of the Crest of Friendship decorated the soft skin. "This is your greatest challenge. Your conquest over Loneliness. Through her, you will discover yourself. Your path will be opened for you to tread in."  
  
"I don't understand...you're talking about Midori all this time?" Yamato stuttered.  
  
"Friendship's greatest enemy is Loneliness, just as Courage's greatest enemy is Fear. As the Keeper of Friendship, you are her responsibility." The twin lifted his gloved hands to Yamato's shoulders, "Don't give up. Whatever the outcome, your path will be revealed. And remember, take Courage and declare Friendships you refuse to see."  
  
Before another word, the Sun shattered the darkness.   
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Yamato woke up by a rude awakening. Taichi screamed out to him as explosions bombarded the entrance. "Wake up Matt!! We've got trouble!" Agumon already warp digivolved to WarGreymon and Gabumon to MetalGarurumon.   
  
"TRUMP SWORD!" The familiar voice caught Yamato's attention. Piedmon?! Then that means... He ran out to join in on the fight only to see Piedmon attacking on his own. On the ground, Yamato saw the dark figure that he came to save. Her scythe was poised down, and her black hair flowed with the wind. She caught the blue eyes scanning her, and she stared back. "CLOWN TRICK!" A streak of light headed for the blonde and he was too slow to react. Noticing the light heading for his partner, MetalGarurumon unleashed his Metal Wolf Claw and dispersed the dark attack. "No gawking at my Lady." he snarled as Piedmon flew closer to the wolf and boy. The clown's back was turned from WarGreymon and decided it was the best time to strike.   
  
His fists formed an orange energy ball and grew to enormous proportions, "TERRA FORCE!" WarGreymon released his attack and Piedmon turned in surprise.   
  
He raised his white-gloved hands to defend himself when a shout stopped him in his tracks, "MIND DRAIN!" Scythemon was directly under Piedmon as the orange ball of light lost its glow and shrunk from the electric flashes from her free hand. Soon the ball dematerialized as the sparkling lights returned to Scythemon. She jumped into the air while her hands formed a familiar orange ball between them. Next, mimicking WarGreymon's moves, she lifted her hands to the air and the orange ball grew enormous. With one mighty cry, "TERRA FORCE!" she threw the energy ball at the dragon man digimon. The unexpected attack paralysed WarGreymon and was hit head on by his own attack. He and Scythemon hit the ground the same time, only she was standing. She raised her scythe, ready to finish the job.  
  
"Midori NO!!" Yamato tackled her to the ground, making her lose her grip on her weapon. "Don't do this!! You're not like this..." He pleaded with her cold expression. But deep in her heart, she listened intently to Yamato's words, still caring of his thoughts. The mixture of emotions caused her crest to glow, releasing a black mist covering them both. MetalGarurumon charged with all his might but he was too late. Taichi reached the black dome and clawed at it to find a way in, "MATT-!!"  
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He blinked his blue eyes open, to see a nostalgic cave surrounding him. I've been here before... He searched the cave to find any signs of life, "Tai? MetalGarurmon? Midori?" No one answered. He felt a chill along his neck and turned to see a mist of black brushing up against his skin. He followed the trail of mist to a wide section of the cave and a shadowy figure. "Midori?..."  
  
She stood below an orb of black, her body surrounded like an aura by the dark mist. Her alter ego of Scythemon wasn't around. She was back to her regular clothing. With a closer look, Yamato remembered the orb that almost took his life by solitude. This orb was much bigger though. "Midori..." He walked closer to her until he was only inches away. She opened her eyes and tears flowed out. He held her hands and clenched them in his, "Don't let the Darkness get to you. Don't let it possess you."  
  
"I'm always alone...no one cared about me and never will. I was their convenience..." She repeated the words over and over in a chant.   
  
Yamato clasped her arms, shaking her gently. "You are not alone! I'm with you...I care..."  
  
She blinked, then stared into his eyes, "You care?...The one who only wants to find his path by using me?" Yamato flinched by the remark. "I know. My dreams warned me of you. But I didn't listen. I trusted but betrayed, once again."  
  
"Midori, that's not true...I...I love you..." Yamato whispered with tearful eyes.  
  
Midori simply stared at him with half a smile, "Love?... Don't say that to make me feel better." Yamato blinked in confusion. "I don't believe in love. To me, it is an illusion; a luxury only the 'rich' can afford. Love is nothing to me. Besides, we would only end up hurting each other." Her words were as cold as ice, "I wasn't searching for love Yamato, I was searching for a friend." He stood there with mouth open. "I've figured out that I am Loneliness. I've denied that but I understand now. I was meant to be alone..." The black orb grew with every word that left her lips. It shifted downwards to the girl.   
  
"Midori, snap out of it! That...'thing' is making you feel this way! I know! I've been through this too... Fight it Midori...Tell me what you want..." He led her hands to his chest, the Crest of Friendship glowing very slightly.  
  
"What I want?..." She looked at him sincerely, but her eyes turned to stone, "I've been waiting for so long I've forgotten. I've been searching for so long that I don't remember. There is no absolute desire in me anymore. I'm empty." she crooned. The dark mist was now right above her and no matter how hard Yamato tried to pull her; she was frozen to the ground. The stream of mists wrapped around her, ready to engulf her.   
  
Suddenly, a raspy voice echoed from the orb, "Loneliness...sorrow...hate...your desires you will never have. You will be mine."  
  
"I'm all alone..." Midori repeated. Yamato continued to coax her but no change. The orb was finally only inches away when suddenly, Midori ripped her hand through the orb and clenched it in her iron grip. A smile creeped to her lips and Yamato was taken aback by her action. "Loneliness...I wallow in solitude." She laughed at the orb, the raspy voice choking from her hold. "I thrive in it. I hated to be alone but I learned that solitude can be a very valuable ally." Her crest glowed to illuminate the entire cave. "Because of it, I learned my own rights and wrongs. I've learned respect, loyalty and honour, the three things I value the most." She pulled the orb to her face, "As for my desires? How could you have something I don't have?! Ever been to the Forest of Illusions? The lake that reflects what is in one's heart... Guess what, I saw nothing. Not even my own reflection." Yamato stood against the wall, as he saw the fire that was hidden for so long in her heart began to explode. The lake scenario was very familiar to his encounter, only he saw the image of Taichi. He wondered why he saw him, more than ever at this moment. Midori didn't see anything because she had nothing in her heart, but why would he see Taichi? 'Shows what's in people's hearts'...does that mean that I...Tai... "Don't think that you can kill me with your mind games." Midori continued, "I know I'm alone. I understand the consequences for treading that path. I am Loneliness." With the last declaration, the orb shattered into data and was absorbed into Midori's crest. It glowed in Darkness and shrouded her whole body. When it was over, Scythemon had returned.   
  
Yamato stared in sadness as the cave started to dissolve. He had defeated the orb by conquering his doubts. She had destroyed it by turning her weakness to her greatest strength. Scythemon turned to Yamato, slowly walking towards him, "You went through exactly what I have. You left to find your path. There were, and are, many ways to get to the end. I took all the opposite roads. I am what you could have been."   
  
His blue eyes started to water and Scythemon caught one of his tears, "I've failed you..."  
  
"Don't think you failed me. This is my true self. The part of me that I kept hidden away from others. Even though I may be alone all my life, I like who I am and I won't change me for anyone. I like what I have become."  
  
"If this is truly what you want..." Yamato whispered.  
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The cave finally disappeared and shouts of attacks and Yamato's name could be heard. "Matt! You're alright!" Taichi wrapped his arms around the blonde and fell by the unexpected embrace. "I was worried that you were hurt or worse..." Yamato blinked at him, Taichi....   
  
Scythemon watched as Taichi fussed over Yamato and the blonde responded to each question. "If you two are finished clomping each other, we are in a battle right now." Taichi stopped his questions to see WarGreymon de-evolved to Agumon. "Piedmon!" Scythemon shouted, "Withdraw. The fight is over."  
  
Piedmon stopped in his tracks as did MetalGarurumon and Agumon. "What are you talking about? They're about to be finished!" He stopped the argument when her face turned cold. He slowly floated down and sheathed his swords. "As you wish my Lady."  
  
"You four are free to go." Scythemon stated. "I suggest you leave immediately."  
  
"No. We won't leave with the Digiworld like this. I won't leave you alone here." Yamato spoke sternly.  
  
"I will take care of the problems here and Piedmon will be with me so I won't be alone." She smiled slightly to the clown and then to Yamato, "I should be killing you at this very moment," Taichi stepped forward slightly in front of Yamato by the statement, "but I won't. You've shown loyalty by coming here just for me. You've honoured me by having someone like you to talk with. You respected my wish to be Scythemon. I will never hurt you..." She leaned in to wrap her arms around the boy, and whisper into his ear, "Our Crests of Destiny made us destined to be enemies, but we proved destiny is not set in stone." She tightened her grip, "And your love belongs to someone else." Her eyes reached over to Taichi as he watched in confusion.  
Piedmon waited patiently for the embrace to cease and took his Lady's hand. "Yamato," she said her last words, "trust me...and him." Her eyes pointed to the face with the enormous goggles.  
  
With that, Piedmon carried her into the sky towards the endless explosions. "Matt, are we really gonna let them go?" Taichi asked.  
  
Yamato waited for the two to disappear and turned to his companion, "Yeah, I trust her. Just like how I trust you." The brown-haired boy smiled by the remark. Agumon, Taichi and Yamato straddled on MetalGarurumon and took to the air.   
  
When they were flying over the ocean, Yamato took off his tag and crest and threw in to the raging waves below. "Matt! What did you do that for?..." Taichi asked.  
  
"..." Yamato pondered at the question, "I have a feeling someone else needs it more than me." Behind them, the expslosions of chaos started to fade from the world.  
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Three years have passed and the Digital World enjoyed peace that lasted for a short time. The world was plunged into darkness once again by a new evil.  
  
"Master, another spire was destroyed." the pudgy green digimon reported with caution.  
  
"Those Digidestined are more of a nuisance than I thought..." His large sunglasses reflected the image of the object in his hand. "What about Area 02?" He pointed to an island with completely white squares on the digital map.  
  
"The last invasion was a disaster...again." the green digimon reluctantly added.  
  
His fist tightened with silent anger, "I think it's time I changed my strategy." He calmly said to his servant as he lifted the object in his hand into the air. Then he threw it at the green digimon and left his throne room.  
  
"Ken..." the digimon whispered in sorrow, "...don't be sad..." The Crest of Friendship glowed in response.  
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This kinda ended abruptly. This the last chapter under the title "Crests of Destiny". BUT THE STORY IS NOT OVER!!! I REPEAT!! IT IS NOT OVER!!!!! There is a sequel to this. That's why this chapter seems unfinished. These chapters were kinda to explain how Scythemon was born for the next story. THE STORY WILL CONTINUE ON except the title will be changed and the timeline in season 02. If you want to search for it, it'll be under the title "Revelations" OR better yet by my author name. Hopefully, I'll be able to post ch.1 up next weekend. Hope you'll keep reading. Afterall, I'm doing this for the you, the readers. ^_~   
  
(Thanks to Sailormoonshadow for supporting me from my first chapter ^_^)  



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